Completion of the Whisper

Chapter Forty.

I'd had both, Caaln's and Nyshard's words, still in my mind when I'd gone back to Nyshard's chambers. I still thought about them when I realised, that Nyshard had not come back by now, I still thought about them when I tried to sleep. They invaded my mind, my dreams and I did indeed... dream about it. My dreams were wild that night, they were a mixture of a lot of my old nightmares, a mixture of that one when I'd been in was seemed like a cell, then the next moment, I was on the top of a wide staircase, looking down at a marvellous unknown city. But that feeling of loneliness, that feeling of emptiness was always there.

And when I woke up the next morning, Nyshard's side of the bed was empty as well.

I stared at the untouched sheets for a long moment, trying to gather my thoughts.

He did not love me.

And it simply didn't matter.

It did not change anything; it did not change my feelings for him and it sure as hell didn't change what I had to do.

My main goal was to free the Isle of Gnys. That was the purpose of my Whisper. And the only purpose. My Whisper didn't say anything about me getting a happy end. In fact, it rather meant the contrary.

Just when I was finished packing my bag, Nyshard entered his chambers. For a moment, we just looked at each other, then he sighed, crossed the room and pulled my in his arms "I'm sorry I wasn't here tonight. I got called away to an attack of the Circle."

"The... Circle? And you went alone?"
By the almighty Slad... just when I'd thought they were relatively calm, they attacked again.

"Only a minor attack, so I didn't need anyone else."

Frowning, I watched his face, then my gaze wandered lower. "You're injured", I narrowed my eyes at the deep cut in his upper arm which I hadn't noticed before. His dark clothes had soaked up the blood. Ignoring him, I reached for the gash and inspected it.

"No need to...", he started, but I'd already touched the wound with my finger. Blinking, I stared at it "Nysh...it's poisoned..."

My Rhaayl powers rose.

His hand took hold of mine "I've built up a kind of tolerance."

"You... what?"

Nyshard nodded "Caaln and I tried it. It worked."

"You..."

"It was you who suggested it months ago and as soon as we found weapons laced with it, I tried it. Then Caaln did so, as well. We're not immune. But we can withstand a certain amount by now, and during the past weeks we also started to give some to special regiments. We did not have much, but..."
"And you never thought about giving some of it to me?", I asked, "Why?"

"Because of your self-healing abilities, Adri. The way you reacted to the venom of that snake in Ralanmar was enough."
He was right. I pretty well still remembered how I'd felt back then, and the marks on my upper thigh where a constant reminder as well. Faded or not.

"You could have at least told me. Are you really telling me you took poison for weeks now and didn't even mind telling me?"

"There was enough other stuff going on, you know that well enough", he sighed, his tone stressed. Stepping away from me, he started to get rid of his clothes and walked in direction of the bathroom.
"Nysh", I followed him and watched him, with my arms crossed in front of my chest, how he entered the tub.

His jaw was clenched, as he threw me a look "No unnecessary worries, Adri. We only used smaller dosages, Srandi overlooked it, it worked."
"Srandi knew about it?"
"Of course, or do you think me that stupid?"
"I think you could have told me. I could have helped and..." – "Exactly. You would have helped. But I needed you to concentrate on helping yourself, Adri. You needed to train."
Nyshard rinsed his hair, washed himself quickly and got up. Glancing furiously at him, I threw him a towel. He caught it mid-air, his expression still firm, but his eyes had softened remarkably. After rubbing himself dry, he slung the towel around his hips and stepped in front of me again. "Adriyele, we have different responsibilities. But thanks to your idea we may have an advantage", he kissed my brow, "and I also wanted to check if it works. It did, as you can see."
He glanced at his upper arm, and even I was able to see that his self-healing had already started. Keeping my silence, I put my hand on the wound nonetheless. It took me little effort to heal it without a second thought. My powers were warm and my palm tingled, feeling his skin knit together. He sighed and glanced out of the window. "Unnecessary... but thank you. Let me get dressed. Then we have to leave for Myrna Bays."