Colin's posts

"Why am I still here?" Ryker asked in response.

"Because." he said.

"That's all you need to know." he told him.

"Also, wrong bait?" he asked.

"The hell do you mean by that?"

"....indeed." Chris responded.

"Well... hopefully, we'll be safe for a while." he said further.

"....I just wonder what Vanessa plans to do now." he then said.

"She resurrected the drows... what now?" he wondered.

"What will she do now?"

"I see." Chris responded.

"Well, I hope it can protect me." he told her

"...us." he then corrected himself.

"The drows won't like you." he went on.

"Being half-human and all." he muttered.

"Odds are you'll be treated the same as me." he sighed heavily.

Ryker was silent and looked over towards him.

"Hello." he greeted him.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you." he told him.

"You still seem like you're sick." he reasoned.

"I'm trying to lure up some breakfast." he then added, looking back at the water.

"Figured." Chris muttered.

"You have no reason to trust me." he said.

"....so, nobody knows we're here?" he then asked.

"...which is to say, this place is unknown, completely?" he then clarified.

"Because I have a very bad feeling that something bad's gonna happen." he told her. "Especially if some of the revived drows find me." he said further.

When his eyes opened once more, he found himself laying atop a large mound of leaves, all various sizes. He could hear water running close by, and when he sat up, he saw Ryker sitting by a river.

He had a sturdy thick stick in his hands, with some thin rope tied to the end of it, which was dangling in the water.

There was a small fire going beside Eke, in a circle of uneven rocks, but it was enough to give off some light and keep him warm. It was also clear that the sun was JUST about to peek out from below the horizon.

He also heard Ryker humming and mumbling to himself.

"...as long the river still runs to the sea, hey lucky you, lucky me... hey lucky you, lucky me..." he sang to himself, seemingly oblivious to Eke being awake now.

"Believe whatever you want." Chris replied.

"She said she had no more use for me, and that I deserved to die alone and in misery, like the abomination I was." he told her.

"I would have died if not for you." he said.

"...and now look at me." he muttered, looking at his hands.

"I changed what I was for her. So she wouldn't feel alone. So she would feel better about liking me." he said further. "But it was all just a lie." he mumbled.

"I now no longer fit in... anywhere."

Chris just sighed in response.

"That's nice of you." he said.

"You were always so genuine." he told her.

"I always thought Vana was as well... until she revealed her true colours to me." he went on.

"......I thought she actually cared. But I was just another lackey to dispose of." he said further.

"As was everyone else there."

"They're probably fighting over the carcass." Ryker responded.

"Seriously, are you ok?" he then asked, noticing the red cheeks that Eke had.

"I can practically hear your heart thumping." he told him.

"Regardless, I can see daylight in the distance." he went on.

"You'll be out of this forest soon."

Francis was silent as Liz said what she did.

"....damn it." was all he said.

-Some time later-

Chris just sighed as he and Ashley walked through the woods.

"....why?" he asked her.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked further.

"Surely it would have been easier to let the Triad take me." he said. "Or let the draydin that works there come across me, as you know she would have."

Francis gulped audibly in response.

"Mmmm..." he mumbled.

"Because.... you're better than that?" he suggested.

"You don't want to sink to MY level?" he went on.

It was clear that he was desperate right now. Backed against a corner, facing off against someone he had no hopes of winning again, and who would torture him to the extreme.

And he was absolutely terrified, she could see it in his eyes.

Francis gasped and choked in pain as she grabbed him, and looked into her eyes.

"Elizabeth..." he said.

"Take... take it... take it easy." he said further.

"I'm your father, remember." he told her.

"We're family." he went on.

"Family is important to us, yeah?" he said further.

"....yeah." Ryker responded after a pause.

"Listen, what about you?" he asked.

"Are you all right?" he asked him. "What happened back there?" he asked further as he rose to his feet, popping the candy in his mouth as he did so.

He then looked around, scanning the area for anything else.

"If more come, they'll want to fight over the corpse of this one." he assured him. "Means we have a LITTLE more time... but not too much more."

When their eyes met for a moment, Eke swore he saw deep purple in Ryker's eyes, but the man quickly shut them, and gently, shakily, accepted the candy.

"Give... give me... a moment..." he managed to say.

"It... this... this will... go... aw-way..." he stammered.

He then grasped at his chest a little more tightly, before letting out a loud scream of agony.... and then slumping down a little.

"....okay." he said, his voice more normal now.

"Okay. I'm good. It's subsided." he assured Eke.