forum At War // OxO // Closed

Started September 19, 2021 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Kaylum tried to take deep breaths and balance himself. He nodded his thanks to Aron. “I’ll be fine. I… I think I just need food and water. Water especially.” He closed his eyes for a moment, starting to feel a little dizzy.

Ryker grabbed Kaylum a water bottle, holding it out to the shifter prince, and Errol grabbed some jerky and dried fruit for Kaylum to eat as well. "There you are." the healer said, coming to stand by him and keep an eye on him.

He opened his eyes, took the water bottle, and held it to his lips, gulping it down. Kaylum then took the food and ate all of it, though he tried to go more slowly. He remembered the possibility that he could choke. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Errol nodded slightly. "Of course." he replied, watching the prince through careful, studious eyes. "Are you going to be alright?" the healer was a kind man, with gentle eyes, and he seemed genuinely concerned for Kaylum's wellbeing. The rest of Nik's guards didn't seem to care quite as much, and seemed more neutral towards the dragon prince, but Errol was, at least, concerned for him.

Errol could likely see the sharpness of Kaylum’s teeth as he bit into the food, the way his pupils had turned into slits. “Of course. I’ll be fine. Just need to… to recover,” he muttered. As he finished up, he let out a soft sigh. “I just need to rest so I’ll be fully capable of teleporting again.”

"Of course." the healer replied in a soft murmur, taking a step back in order to give Kaylum some space. Plus, the sight of the prince's more dragon-like features had sent a shiver up his spine that he did not particularly care for. All four of Nikolas's guards had some sort of issue related to the dragon-shifters, though Ryker's were probably the smallest issues. He had never been involved in the war, as he was not originally Kevran. The other three were.

Kaylum was used to the kinds of looks humans would give him at this point. Part of him took pleasure in the fact that he could be feared purely because of what he was. It was a nice change of pace from being viewed as a child or a spoiled prince. The other part hated it. He was not one of the shifters who fought in the war, he had no clue how to fight. He certainly couldn’t pose any threat now, with his malnourished, flightless body. But aside from all that, he really just hoped the way they looked at him wouldn’t get in the way of them working together to save Nik.
He let out a breath. “Thank you again.” He walked off and laid down in the grass.

"You're welcome." Errol responded, looking up at Ryker after a moment and saying something quietly to him. Ryker gently squeezed his husband's elbow, trying to reassure him, and then looked around the group.

"We need to figure out an exact plan for rescuing Nikolas." Ryker said, voice low, but still commanding. "And once we rescue him, we cannot come back here for long. With just you missing, prince Kaylum, Seren has already added on more patrols. He's looking for you. Once he loses Nik, he will be tearing the forest apart. We won't be able to hide for long, and we will have to leave as fast as possible. The closest city is Duras, and it is a day away traveling hard. We…won't be able to travel that hard." he left out why. Kaylum was certainly not in good enough condition to push as hard as was necessary to reach Duras, and Nikolas…gods, who knew what condition he would be in.

His eyes drifted back over to Ryker, but he didn’t get up. He hummed, trying to think of something. “I’m assuming I can’t just teleport there and get him, then teleport back?”
Kaylum almost wanted to just separate from his body and check on Nik, or even wander around, but he didn’t. He had to be present.

Ryker frowned slightly. "I will admit I don't know much about how your abilities work, but considering how transporting Aron for a short distance tired you out, would transporting Nikolas from further not be even harder?" privately, he was also concerned about the monster Nikolas harbored under his skin. He wasn't sure when the last time that thing had come out had been, and he was worried that the transport might cause just enough stress to break it out. The last thing that any of them wanted was to have to deal with the monster, on top of everything else.

Kaylum sighed and pursed his lips. “… You make an excellent point.” He sat up. He tried to think. His mother taught him strategy, he should come up with a plan. “Mm… teleporting can be a backup, then.”

"Yes. It's nice to know it is an option, but it should be our last resort. There are other things we can do, before you have to use the energy to teleport." Ryker said, brows furrowing just a little bit as he thought through their options, about what to do about all of this. It was going to be hard, getting Nik out. He had always known that. That was why they had got Kaylum out first. He had been less guarded and easier to access.

“Can you do the same thing to get him out that you did for me?” He wondered. “Or, well… I suppose it would be difficult to knock out that many guards. Perhaps we could do a disguise…” he muttered, partially to himself.

"That's what I'm trying to decide." Ryker replied. "There are not enough of us for us to have to fight our way in or out, so we have to be as quick and as silent as possible." he tapped his hand on his thigh absently, trying to decide the best plan of attack. He fully intended upon utilizing Kaylum's abilities as much as possible, though how much that really meant was… well, debatable.