Kaylum was quiet for a moment, stretching out his limbs and back. He looked gratefully at Errol. "Better. I owe you." He glanced at the other guards. "I owe you all." The words were followed by his own grumbling belly. "Ah. Excuse me."
Ryker let out a quiet huff of laughter at the grumbling of Kaylum's belly, and stood straight. He moved over to one of the tents, and soon came back with a small bag, which he held out to Kaylum. "This has some bread, jerky, dried fruits. Nothing amazing, since we can't risk lighting a fire here, but it should help fill you." he said, setting it down beside the dragon prince.
"We're going to get Nik back tomorrow." Lieze spoke for the first time, eyes staring directly at Kaylum in a rather unsettling manner. "And you'll help us." it was not a request.
"Lieze." Errol's voice was soft as he looked over at the young woman. "Slow down. We're all worried about Nik."
Kaylum looked away, a little embarrassed, but at this point, what did it matter? He nodded to Ryker, his fingers drifting to the bag and reaching through it. Pulling out a small loaf of bread, he inspected it for a moment, then bit into it. It was hard to control himself after that. He stuffed his face, with the bread and some jerky too. He tried the fruits, but only cared for them as a small desert.
As he finished up, licking his fingers, he met Lieze's gaze. He swallowed his last bite of food, though there was still some left in the bag. "Damn right I will. I think I can teleport again, which will definitely be useful."
He hadn't been able to really test that, though. Teleporting was more conspicuous than telekinesis, and he didn't want to be caught using his powers. Hopefully, he could try it out here.
Aron cocked his head faintly at Kaylum's words, seeming to be thinking hard about them. "That will be useful." he said softly. "Do you have any idea what sort of condition he is in? When was the last time you saw him?"
"Or…heard him." Ryker's words were pained, and all four Kevrans looked, for just a moment, furious. The four were all clearly very capable, which made their anger a scary thing to behold. Lieze, despite being the smallest, somehow had the most rage condensed into her, her blue eyes more like hot coals than a summer sky.
Kaylum looked at each of the humans, another shudder passing over him. He put a hand on the back of his neck, thinking for a moment and drowning in memories. He didn’t really feel like telling them about his astral projecting just yet, but…
“I heard and saw him not long ago…” he said vaguely. “If you thought I looked bad when you found me, then he’s worse. He’s… barely able to move, nevermind walk.”
He would always visit Nikolas in his cell, never in the tent where he was tortured. There was nothing he could do about it anyway. So he just went to the cell and watched him slowly crack but never break. Watched his soul twist and shift inside him. The only sliver of hope he had been holding onto was that as long as Seren tortured the human prince, it meant that he hadn’t broken, hadn't given in.
All four guards looked furious again, and each one paused for a moment to collect themselves. Lieze's grip tightened on the hilt of her blade, knuckles going white. Aron's hands formed into fists and he closed his eyes, tilting his chin towards the ground. Ryker reached out to automatically comfort Errol, wrapping an arm around his husband's shoulders. Errol leaned into Ryker, gaze flicking to the sky.
"He'll be fine." Aron finally said, though the words seemed half anger and half hope. "Errol can fix him up."
Errol grimaced. "There's a limit to what I can do, and his…he doesn't always react well to my magic." he said softly.
Kaylum said nothing else, just stared into space. Images of Nikolas had taken over his mind. Slowly, he came out of it, and remembered that, oh wait, his wounds had been healed. He started stretching out his arms and back again, sometimes twisted his torso back and forth or rotated his shoulders. Then, he stood up.
“I’ll be back.” He went out into the forest, some yards away from the camp.
The four guards watched him go for a long moment, then turned back towards each other, communicating quietly. They all still seemed angry, though that anger was not in any way directed at Kaylum. Why would it be? It was not Kaylum's fault that this had happened, after all.
He couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He had already been doing a lot of that before he had been rescued. When he came to a clear spot in the woods, Kaylum stopped and looked around. This looked like a good place. He laid his eyes on a spot about ten feet ahead and concentrated. When nothing happened, he closed his eyes and imagined that same spot. He opened his eyes. He had teleported. Kaylum didn't knowing whether to cry or laugh or whoop for joy. Well, probably none of those things, he should keep himself quiet. All the same, elation filled him, and he kept practicing, having to relearn and understand this abillity once more.
The guards continued to plan, eventually starting to relax a little bit, though none of them were ever far from their weapons, just in case. They knew how close they were to Seren's camp, knew that a guard sentry venturing a little too far could easily find them, and then sound the alarm. If that happened, well, it did not bode well for them or for Nikolas.
After about ten minutes or so, Kaylum teleported back to the guards’ camp and sat down on his cushion. He was starting to get a little tired, but wanted to listen to what they were talking about. He reached up into his hair and started undoing the bun, his locs slowly coming undone and draping over his shoulders and back.
Aaron jumped slightly at Kaylum's sudden teleportation, hand automatically reaching for his weapon before he recognized Kaylum. Then he relaxed a little, though not a lot.
"Kaylum." Errol said, turning to him. "We've been discussing how best to get Nikolas out."
"A lot depends on what state he's in." Ryker said quietly. "If he's…capable of moving."
Kaylum nodded. "Well, I can definitely teleport now, so…" he paused. "I could go on ahead and take out any security guarding him. Also…" he hesitated. "I could check on him. I can see how he is doing, if you really need that information."
It would only be a quick trip outside of his body, and hopefully the humans would just brush it off. He didn't really feel like explaining how he could just go check on Nik and come back.
Each of the guards studied him, concerned and confused by his words. "And how would you do that?" Ryker asked. "You can't just teleport into his cell. You would be seen." he frowned a little, rubbing his thumb against the hilt of his blade in a slow, absent motion.
Kaylum just rested his head on his hand. “It’s just another ability of mine,” he said. “Don’t worry, I don’t technically need to leave and go back, but I don’t really feel like elaborating.”
He sighed, and laid down. “Listen, if I don’t wake up in, say, five minutes, you need to shake me awake. Got it?” Not waiting for an answer, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was staring down at himself, formless and unseen. Kaylum let out a nonexistent breath, and noticed the glowing thread that was tied to his soul. He followed it, letting it take him right back to Seren’s camp. He hesitated at first, but soon pushed forward and went inside. Hopefully no one had noticed his absence yet. He continued following the thread until he came to Nikolas’s cell.
"Uh…" Ryker seemed rather confused by this, but just watched as Kaylum lay down and went to sleep, or at least…appeared to.
There were two guards outside of Nikolas's cell, and the human prince was inside. He was crumpled on the floor, body curled into itself in a fetal position intended as some measure of protection. His clothes were tattered and pretty much ruined, and most of his skin was covered in bruising or drying blood. He was breathing, but each one was slow and painful and slightly wheezing.
Kaylum noted the two guards before inspecting the crumpled form in the cell. He wasn’t too different from the last time Kaylum visited him. His soul was withered and blackening, reflecting the physical and mental trauma he was inflicted with and the curse that still had a hold on him. Kaylum stared, saddened but unsurprised. He reached out, wanting to hold that little ball of shifting, dimming light, to smooth it over and comfort it, but hesitated. Messing with someone’s soul was dangerous business, and he didn’t trust himself with such a power, if he even had it. So, he spoke to it instead. His unheard whispers attempted to be of comfort, assuring of his safety and that he and his friends would rescue him soon. Just wait a little longer. Soon this suffering will pass.
Kaylum slowed, and tried to regain his vision of the material world. He noted the state of Nik’s body, the wounds, the breathing, his position, then made his way back to his body.
He opened his eyes, though now he was much more tired. He slowly sat up, peering over at Nik’s guards.
The guards had all been watching his body, with various expressions of confusion and uncertainty, and when he moved they all shifted, still studying him.
"What just happened?" Ryker questioned, narrowing his eyes faintly as he tried to understand what Kaylum had just been able to do. "What did oyu…do?" he didn't understand how Kaylum could have been checking on Nikolas, when all he did was lay down on the ground and lie motionless for a few minutes.
Kaylum’s gaze landed on Ryker before flicking off to the side. “Prince Nikolas looked to be in a lot of pain. There were many scars and bruises on him, including his legs, and I highly doubt he can move, much less walk. He should be handled gently when we go for him.”
Ryker stared at Kaylum for a long moment, processing those words. "I…thank you, but how do you know?" he asked, crossing his arms loosely. All four guards looked very tired, but unwilling to sleep yet. Aron was pacing faintly, and Lieze was just…watching, her gaze slightly unsettling.
Kaylum sighed deeply. After being interrogated and tortured all this time, he relented quickly to questions. “I can astral project. My body stays in one place, but my spirit can go outside of it and travel through the spiritual realm.”
Ryker frowned, yawning after a moment. "Alright." he finally said. "I…will not pretend to undestand what that means." he shifted, taking off his armor finally. "We should all get some rest, if we want to be in decent shape for rescuing Nikolas tomorrow." the other guards began to reluctantly prepare to sleep, though Aron did not.
"I'll take first watch." Aron said, settling down with his armor still on.
Kaylum just scoffed, shaking his head. Of course. Humans. Seeing the others preparing for bed, he stood up again, but this time only going just outside of the camp. He shifted into dragon form, as was his habit at this point, and curled up in the grass. It was warm out, but the open air and the stars above him was nothing like the cell. Maybe father and mother had ascended by now, and they were in the stars, watching him from above. Kaylum took comfort in that as sleep came over him.
(Time skip?)
(Yeeee)