The Warp of Time
"Speak, and I will listen."
Aldran and the Knight
[The pages here are ink-spattered, and several are torn and missing. Perhaps out of frustration...?
[...] This body was broken, Aldran realized; broken beyond what he could heal, with his own essence being pierced by their progenitor and dragged forcefully back. Even so, he clung to it, fleeing further into the gentle quiet of a soul who knew they would soon be gone.
They were almost gone, this nameless knight; as Aldran settled into their bones, the oppressive weight of Mora's eyes staring down onto him - though he could not see It through this mortal's eyes - he felt first the sharp, jagged edges of the Orcish blade still embedded in their stomach; it was distant, far-off and shrouded in a soft, fuzzy gauze. There was warmth beneath the body, something moist, and under that, the damp stone were they lay dying.
Cautiously, Aldran brushed his mind against the edges of this quiet place, searching. Hello, he hummed, offering himself to his new host; hello, darling.
There was quiet, and their now-shared heart sank as he realized: oh. Oh.
He was too late. This knight's body may cling to life, but their soul? Of course it had fled; mangled as they were, he did not blame them. Still extended into that quiet space, he let himself feel the slow pull of melancholy and gratitude -
Then, quiet as anything, he felt a whisper brush against him. Hello. Hello. It was quiet, curious. Maintained a distance, he noticed.
But then a different thought brushed against him - Another? Now?
And then another; maybe they can help us. maybe they can help us. maybe they can help us.The thought repeated, circling around Aldran as if trying to see the breadth of him, encasing him in a strange heaviness.
Not one of us. Not one of us. Out. Out. Out. Another thought, more akin to the feeling of a dagger than a voice, shoved violently against Aldran's being, trying to force him - where? Where could he go?
hello! hello! help us. help us. Out. Help us. Hello! out. Not one. Out. Help? Hello!
Aldran quickly withdrew, a sudden gasp for breath alighting their body with shock of pain - real pain, sharp and intense, each tooth of the blade dug into their shredded flesh, no longer shrouded by that loving haze - but the thoughts followed him, and he could not hear. [...]