Nico watched her with growing worry. No matter how often he cleaned her wound it would still seep a dark black liquid he could only assume was her infected blood. The dark veins that spread out from the savage wounds didn't go far which was a relief, but that didn't mean it wasn't affecting her. No matter how much he worked her eyes wouldn't open, her body wouldn't respond... He had been praying all night even after the dwarves had fallen asleep.
He looked to the stars again, noting the absence of the moons. It was truly a dark night, had the gods forsaken him? Worse yet, had they forsaken Talia? Her skin was burning hot, her eyes racing beneath her lids, her breath shallow... He held her hand tightly, gritting his teeth as tears threatened to spill from him again. He didn't want to be alone with the dwarves. He didn't want to return to their family alone. He didn't want to be without her. He didn't want to complete their task without her. He didn't want to have to bury her. He choked on a sob at the very idea.
"You've done the most epic thing I've ever seen in this world and now you're just going to lie there comatose? That's so weak Talia...." He growled at her. If she were awake to hear that jab she would laugh at him, probably even try to slug him. Or at least squeeze his hand until he cried for real. But there was nothing, she wasn't even aware he was insulting her. He sighed, she'd never scared him so much in his life. And she wasn't done either. But if she could survive the night he had a strong hope that he could get her to Madora before her condition worsened.
He continued to diligently wipe away her blood and observe her wounds. The compresses that one of the dwarven men had made helped draw her fever down and settle her sleep but they had long since soiled beyond use. They'd run out of bandaging material long before they could get her to the town, he was already half through the dwarves medical supplies. He almost felt bad for it, they'd need to restock as soon as they made it to a bigger town. He had a feeling the injuries wouldn't stop, they weren't going to get safer as they escorted the dwarves back to their home.
Hours passed as he sat in silent vigil, all manner of thoughts crossing his mind. He'd been with Talia nearly his entire life, and Hephatus be willing he'd likely stay with her till the day he died. He knew she would long outlive him, even if he was a necromancer. Hephatus's children operated differently than normal people, just because he wanted to spend his life with her didn't mean he wanted to do so romantically. When he looked at her he felt a deep well of loyalty, but the love he held for her was nothing more than that of a brother. An overprotective brother if he were being honest.
As he waited he imagined what life would be without her. Without her anger, her drive, her sharp attitude, her strength. Things in their order had changed drastically when she stepped on. Her skill outweighed most, her hatred rivaled even Midnights. He sighed, shaking his head in wonderment. Women were such spiteful creatures, their grudges could last decades. Longer if they could live that long. He smiled at the thought however, how she would hunt any soul to wrong them till the end of time. That level of dedication was admirable. He always grew bored after a few weeks of the hunt, but Talia could go for months meticulously gathering data, patterns, and anything to help her kill someone.
"Oi, lad ave' you slept at all?" Bromyr called from his bedroll. The dwarf's voice was slurred and muddled, he was obviously not quite awake. Nico sighed, setting the soaking rag down before leaning back. He did need to sleep eventually.... He was exhausted.
"Not yet." He answered dryly. They had all passed out, even if he had tried to go to sleep there wouldn't have been a lookout. That was his forte after all, with the form of a raven he could see for miles even in the night skies. He could only imagine the monsters lurking in the dark shadows, but he didn't have Talia's ability to detect things that couldn't be seen.
"I'll sit up with her, you should rest." Bromyr was sitting, his bleary eyes glinting in the darkness. Nico growled, frowning darkly as he brushed her cheek, ensuring her temperature was not spiking or falling drastically.
"I do hope you won't mind my saying that I don't trust you. Not with her life." He hated being polite, but he didn't want drama with the dwarves. Especially so far from the safety of his family. Bromyr huffed,
"I won't kill her lad. If anything I owe her a blood debt for every dwarf here, including myself. Keeping her alive is in my best interest." Nico relaxed slightly, his shoulders falling in defeat. He could argue, but there weren't a lot of points to rebuttal with. He looked down at her again, for the time being she seemed calm and serene, sleep holding her calmly as the night continued. There were still far too many hours of night, and he was already fading fast.
"Fine. I've been keeping her temperature down with this rag and some cold water but the rag needs cleaned... I'm running out of things." He was both desperate and exasperated. Bromyr scootched over, reaching out to pick up the rag.
"I believe she'll be alright for now, it would be better to wait for proper supplies rather than continue using soiled ones." Nico just nodded along, laying down on the ground and getting himself as comfortable as possible. He definitely did not want to talk any longer.
Morning came all too quickly, the light of morning piercing Nico's dreams until he was forced to wakefulness. He opened his eyes only to see the sun just barely peaking over the distant mountains, the skies were still black behind him. He sighed, the cold was set into his bones and muscles. He wasn't even sure how he had managed to sleep, but as he pushed himself up he realized he was covered in a tiny cloak. Bromyr's cloak. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. It was awfully friendly.
"Glad to see you're up. I hope you don't mind, I saw you shivering..." Nico waved a hand, blinking blearily.
"Appreciated princeling. How is she?" He tried to peer behind the dwarf man, but he was a rather wide body and from his position he couldn't see. Bromyr shrugged, his expression betraying nothing.
"She had a few fits through the night, but with some careful administration of cold cloths I believe I was able to help settle her. For now she's quiet, her breathing steady." Bromyr took that moment to stand, cracking his knuckles and back as he turned to his sleeping troop. Not once had they risen, but it was to be expected considering their long journey and fight. The dead dragon still lay behind them, but the decay had far advanced and now there was more bone than flesh left.
"Such a strange world we live in right now..." He murmured. Nico looked to the dead creature as well, his heart heavy as he saw chunks of flesh slough off of it. Was it natural? Was it supernatural? He couldn't know for certain. In his life he had never seen such a thing before, in fact he could say with some certainty that he would have never seen such monsters in his life if he weren't Talia's partner. Somehow she attracted the darkest perversions to her.
"We need to get going soon, The daylight is the safest time to travel and we have a lot of ground to cover." Nico stood, handing the cloak back to Bromyr as he looked for Jax. The stallion was grazing nearby, perfectly content. He hated saddling the creature up in the mornings, he was always cold backed and defiant if anyone but Talia saddled and rode him. He couldn't afford Jax bucking her off, or anyone else for that matter. He was a stout and powerful creature capable of inflicting a surprising amount of damage should he choose to have a fit.
He moved forward causing the stallion to startle slightly and turn to face him. Nico held his hand out carefully, whispering words of soft encouragement to him. It took mere moments before he was gently stroking the animal's soft nose, running his hand up the horse's neck and wrapping his fingers around the mane. Jax puffed, his stomach growing wide with the amount of air he was holding in.
"You can't possibly think that trick will work on me." Nico scolded Jax with a smile, he recalled multiple times Jax had done the same with Talia. She'd always smile and rub the horse's face, affectionately referring to him as a 'puffin muffin'. Jax was the only creature alive who held Talia's deepest affections. But just as he could remember her spirited reactions to Jax's shenanigans he could also remember the fix. He quickly grabbed Jax's headstall and slipped it on before giving him a swift brush-down and blanketing him. Before he could put the saddle on he had to get the stubborn stallion to release all his pent up air, so he sidled to his right side and quickly slapped his belly with the flat of his hand. It wasn't a particularly harsh slap, but it shocked Jax enough to release. Before he could puff up again Nico threw on Talia's saddle and pulled the cinch and tightened it up.
"I still can't believe what an impressive creature that boy is. As dwarves we very rarely interact with horses but even I can see quality when it appears. How did she get such a fine beast? Even the Kings would struggle just to get one I'm sure." Bromyr walked up slowly as his men started to pack their things and ready for the long day ahead. Nico shrugged as he stroked Jax's neck and took a gauge at his overall temper for the morning.
"She makes friends on rare occasion, the man who bred this horse just so happened to become one of her closer friends before he died. He left her all his belongings, his ranch, his stock, his horses, everything. She took Jax with her and hired some people to look after the rest. That's all I know about it." It wasn't exactly the truth, but the truth was just as twisted and convoluted as any lie would have been. They had a complicated past.
"I'll get her up into the saddle and ride behind her to keep her in place if that's alright with you?" Bromyr made his way back to Talia who was still lying perfectly still on the ground. Nico's gut twisted. He wasn't sure how things were going to go, the silence of the now cold battlefield was deceiving. He knew they would continue to be hunted even though their current position offered a false sense of security. Their travels would be noted by any wayward gaze, they would not be able to hide in the towns even if they wanted to. Especially with a dragon egg.
"I don't know if it's smart for you to accompany me... Us into town. Your very presence will alert the humans and any nefarious creatures to our position. It may be wise for you and your men to stay in the forests until I can get Talia on her feet again. Especially with your... Cargo." He pointed to Bromyr's satchel which now rested around his waist. Bromyr frowned, pulling at the tip of his beard.
"I can't argue wit' you there... Even if I wanted to. We have been avoiding most common fairways to stay out of dangers way. But I hate to feel useless. So, I will give you what I can... Here." Bromyr dug around under his cloak before pulling a handful of dwarven Kings from his money pouch. Nico's eyes nearly bulged from his head, what Bromyr was offering was a veritable fortune. Solid gold coins with the visage of one of the more famous dwarven Kings heads on the front and the current dwarven Kings head on the backside of it.
"Buy any supplies you'll need, and if there's extra get some provisions for our travels if you can. Dried meats, bread, cheeses, anything to keep us going. The nearest town won't have much, I doubt we'd even manage to get ponies there so we'll just need enough to get us to Amethyst Cove. From there we can fortify better." Nico gently grabbed the coins as Bromyr continued to explain.
"Amethyst Cove? That's a week's ride, so at least a week and a half of walking. And that's if we don't run into trouble or sustain more injuries." He muttered mostly to himself. The Cove was a coastal city that connected to the Sapphire sea, a temperate body of water that contributed to the gem-like colors of the regions skies, soils, waters, and flora. It was also a popular city for sea-elves who primarily lived off of boats serving the trading boom that was occurring in the city. It wasn't connected explicitly to the kingdom of Mankind, so it was possible that the ban against dwarves wasn't being upheld there. The last time he and Talia had visited it was a veritable cesspool of all sorts of peoples including elves, humans, magi, beast-races, halflings, and whatever the slavers had dredged up in their travels.
"It's not a nice place, we might run into a lot of trouble there." Nico warned as he helped Bromyr situate Talia into the saddle. Bromyr nodded,
"Aye, I know its type. Most of the cities that lie on the coastal shores are hotspots for crime, violence, and pirates. But that is also why it is perfect. So long as word hasn't gotten out about us we should blend right in. We can gather supplies, news, and rest for a time there." Nico didn't have time to debate or argue with the dwarf, instead he waited until he too had situated himself atop Jax's back before handing him the reins.
"We can't think that far ahead just yet I'm afraid. We still have to get Talia into town where I can rendezvous with our Healer. From there the travel time alone is long, too many things could happen in between now and then." He looked to the troop of dwarves who were now waiting patiently. He eyed Grimor carefully, the man's eyes were glued to Talia with too many emotions for Nico to decipher swirling around in them. Too many variables, he hated not being able to talk to his partner about his concerns.
"Then lets get this done so we can move on to the next task." Bromyr clicked and Jax started forward quickly. Nico growled as the dwarves pushed past him. He didn't like not being in control either. His mood had gone from amicable to downright sour. He cursed the dwarves harshly as he braced his body for the rush of magic and pain that came with changing shape.
Once in the air he began to circle a large swath of land in search for anything that could prove potentially dangerous. The ride back into town would take hours so he would coast the air until they neared the homes of the outlying humans. From there he'd take over transporting Talia as the dwarves found a good place to take up hiding until Talia was sound enough to continue. His heart raced in his chest, the power of it rattling his little bird skull as he tried to work out all the angles of the plan. With hours to let his mind gnaw at it he knew his anxiety would not find any rest that day.