The Burden of Breaking Hearts

Flames

Knock, knock, knock!

It was still dark outside leaving Diana with no idea who was at her door. She moved the comforting sheets from over her and slipped out of bed. Lighting a candle, she made her way through her home, grumbling to herself about idiots coming to her door at all times of the night. One name flashed in her mind: Darion. 

Her pace quickened.

She swung the door open without hesitation. Her disappointment wasn't masked in the slightest as she was instead met by two strangers; she assumed they were travelers and morphed her face into something more welcoming.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Diana asked, drowsiness creeping into her tone.

"In fact, there is," the traveler in front said. Her voice was smooth, but Diana could sense a tone of mischief behind the words. She held her candle out a little more, throwing more light onto the visitors. The woman looked normal, but it was the man behind her who was concerning. He shied away from the light, but that didn't stop Diana from glimpsing the black veins running up and down his body.

The female continued to speak. "I have very big plans that I've set out to finish, but there's a certain magician that I sense could be quite the obstacle. I couldn't break him physically, so I thought I'd take another approach." The candle became futile as the woman's hand caught on fire, lighting up the night.

"Darion."

The word sounded as if it'd been spoken from a different room; muffled and unclear.

"Come on, get up."

Everything was becoming a little less numb. Feeling was returning to his fingers, the sensation steadily crawling up his arm.

"You're not dying on me today. I refuse to lose anyone else."

Darion could move his arms now; slowly but surely. He knew that he had to get up, no matter how much his body told him not to. He began moving any part of his body that was under his control, hoping to coax the rest of his body into returning to his command.

"There we go." Hernon's voice came through as strained, no longer as muffled as it once was. "We have to go stop that thing."

Raum. Hernon was talking about Raum, the demon now residing within Lord Crestfall's body thanks to one magician with dark magic. From what Darion could tell, Ala hadn't cared in the slightest about the royal jewels, she'd just needed someone to hire her for an extended amount of time-- for example, someone who wanted protection so his greedy schemes wouldn't come to light. Part of him felt bad that Lord Crestfall happened to be so unlucky as to request the assistance of a magician who wanted to sacrifice him to a dark lord; the rest of him couldn't care any less.

His eyes finally opened. "It's about time," Hernon muttered, leaning back away from the man on the floor. Darion could've sworn that Hernon had been shaking, but the thought immediately left his mind as Hernon was on his feet, offering a hand to Darion.

"How long has it been?" Darion asked, accepting the offer. Portions of his body were still partially numb, yet he kept his balance none-the-less.

Hernon looked out the gaping hole in the ceiling-- courtesy of none other than Raum. "Way too long; they can be anywhere by now." Light streamed in through every opening, flooding the room with a white glow.

"We need to get moving," Darion said. "We should probably stop by your house to restock on potions first, though."

Never having fought a Lord possessed by a demon or a merciless assassin wielding magic, Hernon elected to allow Darion to make all of the calls. He was a tad out of his element and he was painfully aware of it.