Blood & Wine - A Spawn Astarion Fan Fiction

Astarion

Nymeria is gone.

The thought strikes flint over and over in my mind as I look around for a sign of her. I curse myself for falling into such a deep meditative state, but her presence and the gentle sound of her breathing made me feel safe. My first instinct is that she finally saw me for what I was and ran away because the alternative is too much to bare.

I crash through the opening of my tent inhaling deeply, hoping I could catch her scent, but all I can smell is the smoke from the campfire and the awful stench of whatever fish is being cooked there.

"What's got you looking like you're ready for murder?" Karlach asks as she leans down to tie off her leather boots.

"Have you seen Nymeria?" I ask, struggling to keep my tone even.

"She's not with you?" Karlach looks behind her to the space that Nymeria's tent usually occupies, "I thought you two were sharing a tent now."

"We are." I say, "If she was with me I wouldn't be asking where she was." My jaw flexes as I close my eyes.

"Nymeria can't be gone" Shadowheart appears from behind Karlach's tent, not too far from her own. "All of her things are still here."

Karlach straightens and points to Shadowheart, "Take Wyll and Gale to search the roads." She turns to me, "I'll grab Halsin and we'll take the woods. He's got to know this area more than most. We will find her."

I pull on my boots and meet with Karlach and Halsin at the edge of camp. The large druid inhales deeply and shifts into his bear form, I notice him sniff in my direction as he passes and continues on into the woods at a canter. Karlach and I share a look and go our own ways.

The morning is overcast, rendering the woods dull, grey and void of the usual magic that they hold. It's all rather ominous and does nothing to settle my anxiety, it's the perfect setting to find a body. Every sickening thought settling on my shoulders. Don't let her be a message. Don't let them take her from me.

"Astarion!" Karlach calls out.

I follow her voice deeper into the woods, something in me lurches as she's staring at a tree, Halsin beside her. As I get closer I see what the both of them are staring at, an arrow is sunken into the tree with a golden pendant hanging from it. Nymeria's pendant, the one that was supposed to protect her.

"I can smell her." Halsin says pointing down to a broken snare at the base of the tree, "Her scent is all over that rope."

"How can you tell?" Karlach asks looking between us.

Halsin points to me, "It's all over him too."

I inhale and it hits me, "I can smell her blood." My stomach roils at the thought.

"And what's that black shit on the arrow?" Karlach nods towards the tree, "It looks like some kind of sap."

Halsin steps forward and pulls the arrow from the tree, allowing the pendant to slip into his palm. He hands me the necklace and holds the tip of the arrow to his nose, inhaling. "Smells like." He furrows his brow and takes another sniff, "Drow poison."

"That's good news, yeah?" Karlach asks, "She's asleep somewhere. Not dead."

I grip the pendant in my palm and look to the ground. Among the dew, ruby red droplets cling to the grass, the metallic tang of blood tickles my nose. "There isn't much blood so whoever shot her staunched the wound. They need her alive."

Halsin folds his arms across his chest, "We should get the others and formulate a plan to rescue her."

We assemble back at the campfire. Gale has taken to pacing silently which is the most unsettling thing I have ever experienced. Wyll is hunched over feeding sticks into the fire, his eyes trained on the flames lost in thought. Karlach is beside me mindlessly sharpening her axe while Shadowheart sits across from me, her arms wrapped around her middle.