It was not the first time that someone had stumbled on her door bleeding and nearly dead. Nor would it probably be the last.
Rena moved the young man into her house and dragged him into one of the guest rooms. Then worked on getting him fixed up.
The wounds seemed mainly on his chest so she peeled the blooddrenched shirt off of him and carefully cleaned him up. Despite the groans of pain it elicited, she knew she was doing a pretty good job of being gentle. This was not her first time bandaging up some stray.
As she got the blood of off his chest she noticed a marking. It was a jagged looking spiral with a skull attached that exuded darkness. A sharp intake of breath left her as she saw this and recognized what it meant.
She gently stroked the blood-splattered hair out of his eyes and whispered with a voice filled with pity, "You're a strong one, aren't you. Survived the first stage."
After bandaging him up, she went to make a potion that would slow down the affliction that he was under and work to alleviate the pain. She could not cure him, that was impossible. Even the High Priestess would not be able to, not this malady. But she could help him have a pleasanter experience for the rest of his life, and even give him more time.
It only took her half a hour to make the potion and she tipped it into his throat almost immediately. His features seemed to relax as the potion worked its magic.
Then she worked to clean the rest of him up. She had very seldom seen anyone splattered quite to this extent with blood. But after several hours of wringing his hair out, wiping his face and body, and changing his ruined clothes, the man was rather clean and not like he had been part of a massacre. And looking surprisingly familiar.
His facial structure, the dirty blond hair, even his general body structure looked almost exactly like…
The younger brother. Thinking of the two boys brought a smile to Rena's face.
The two brothers had often been called Summit's Dogs. Not in a derogatory manner. No, it had been because of their utter loyalty to the protector.
Agreas and them had been friends from childhood. After he had taken on his father's role the boys had gone to him and pleaded to enter his service as his aids.
It would not be the first time a protector had taken on aids. But the brothers had been human. Usually aids to the land's protector had been powerful monsters in they're own right.
But Agreas had worked around it. He had imparted some of his own power to them. The elder brother's gift had ended up being hereditary if what she had heard was correct. Had the younger's?
Because she was pretty sure this young man currently laying on one of her guest beds was a direct descendant of his.
He probably had inherited some semblance of it, though perhaps watered down a bit. His gift had been the more arcane side of Agreas's, while the eldest brother's had been more of a gift of nature.
The two brother's had had titles all their own as their fame in Nireal grew. The eldest brother, Drez had been nicknamed the "Druid King." The younger, Jiras, had been called the "Sculpted Sorcerer."
Two very different powers. The eldest had gotten a bunch of transmutation magic dumped into him to change his entire being. And the younger had been the only known sorcerer who had been made into one rather than born.
Agreas had been somewhat proud of both of his works.
And they had served very well at his side. Even if they had had an odd rivalry/friendship with Xeltia's handmaiden, as they contested for best assistant. In the end Drez had won that title. But his brother had been pretty good as well. Just overshadowed by how adept his brother had been at utilizing his gift.
Not that any of that mattered anymore. Even with the assistants that had still happened and Nireal had been lain waste.
It was sad really, especially when Rena recalled those smiling faces. She had rather liked all of them. Lucien, Xeltia, Agreas, Sol, Drez, and Jiras. All of them had ben quite lovely people, and she felt terrible about how their lives had been totally wrecked by what Ryliah had done.
She shook her head and tucked in the man that seemed to be descended from Jiras. Well, she would just do what she could to make things right. Helping those who came to her as the order had done since long before she had ever been born. After all as the last surviving member of the order what else could she do?
"Sleep well, young one. I wish I could truly save you from your fate."