A+restless+night's+sleep+in+Szass+Tam's+estate

Wren practically melted against Kale as she embraced him, so relieved to have him and her sister back at her side, “I’m so glad that you’re alright! I tried to send you a message and got these… strange voices back… I’m just glad that you’re okay.” She smiled up at him.

She walked with the group to the room where they would rest and while the others set up the little noise alarms and prepared the room for safety, Wren sat with Crowe and the two of them communed with Inali and Harmony. Crowe helped her with some new spells before finding a quiet corner to fall asleep in.

Wren went over to Kale who was watching her from a distance as she worked with Crowe. "If we set up watches... will you take the last watch with me and sleep near me now?" He smiled at her and nodded. Wren went over to one of the rugs on the floor and curled up next to Kale, draping her cloak over both of them, and laying her head on his chest, drowsily. Despite where they were and all that was going on around them, Kale's warmth was comforting and she started to doze.

He put his arms around her and smiled. While traveling, they were usually separated with girl rooms and guy rooms, it was probably the first time on their adventures that Wren was going to sleep in his arms out in the open.

The first attack came swiftly, barely long enough for Wren to get comfortable in Kale's strong arms before spectral figures came floating into the room....followed shortly afterwards by more shambling servants of the arch lich. Kale leapt to his feet, drawing his blade and joined Kinu and Uther and Erevin to repel the assault. She was amazed at his quick, efficient swordplay, working in tandem with Kinu they dispatched the undead. Wren felt....powerless...her magic for the day exhausted, all she had was Cirdan...and a dwindling supply of arrows.

The second attack came perhaps an hour later...again...interrupting their rest. It was clear whatever...force was left in charge of the summer house wasn't going to let them rest...easily. It was intelligent...it was...angry. Kinu and Erevin and Kale conferred with the others and the decision was made. The spellcasters would move to the back of the room and try to sleep...and everyone else would stay up to defend them all night. Moving out slightly in the hope that the spellcasters could get the precious hours of sleep they needed, they resolved not to wake them if at all possible.

Wren moved with the others...watching Kale guarding the hall and tried to sleep. Would he...be alive when she next...opened her eyes? Would...she? ...It was going to be a long night.

(I need to preface this by saying that Wren and Yuki have the same dream. ) -Alan

Azarius hummed a sweet melody to Yuki as she lay there trying to rest. Nothing was safe to touch here, so they were on the floor. Azarius offered his lap as a pillow for Yuki, gently stroking her hair as she drifted off to sleep.

Yuki felt herself drift off to another time and place. The scene opens with the happy couple running down the aisle as all of their friends cheer them on, wishing them well and applauding. It was time to start their new life together. Azarius and Wren/Yuki.

The wedding night was an event to remember. It had truly been Epic!.......WOW.....totally spent!.....Whew!

Time whirls forward and there is the happy couple running and laughing in a beautiful meadow, full of daisies. The sun was beaming down on them. Wren/Yuki and Azarius fall down together, giggling in a playful romp through the flowers...... ahhh!..... what a marvelous warm summer day!

Azarius looks deeply into Wren/Yuki’s eyes and says, “You know that I’m the luckiest man in the world,” as he pats the baby bump that Wren/Yuki has developed, “I’m so happy now. I never want this to moment to end.”

but it does...Time marches on and the scene opens with Azarius nervously pacing outside the delivery chamber… what will they have a boy or a girl? The tension is too much, Azarius is chewing on his finger nails when he hears a slap and the shrill cry of a newborn infant. With delight and glee Azarius runs into the chamber to see Wren/Yuki lying there exhausted, but happy.

Holding the new found bundle of joy, Wren/Yuki pulls the blanket back to look at the new arrival in the face............A cold voice in the distance whispers....A giffffffffft for youuuuuuuuuuu...You wake screaming as Azarius looks down at you surprised........”What?....What is it, dear friend?” says the hooded figure looking down at you, eyes twinkling from the dark recesses of his hooded robe.

An exhausted Yuki startles awake...and looks around, disoriented... She was cold...and her head hurt... Her body...hurt. And… she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something...'someone' important was missing... It was lonely... And this place...breathed despair...

 ...and in her head…fading images flickered and made no sense. Dreams of daisies and weddings and promises and a baby that looked nothing like a baby... Scary and grey...with too many arms and too many legs... And eyes...so loving...and happy...they drowned her.

Yuki had been so tired... Losing...her life in a single bolt of lightning had...shaken her.

A happy life had flashed before her eyes, filled with the love of...family...of good friends...and so many silly, funny, delicious things... And Sune...and someone darker...waiting...

But somehow, in that moment...it all felt a little unfair... What of her...epic love? Where was it? To die...like that...without ever...tasting it...? Great passion. Intimacy. Somehow... that didn't seem...right at all. It left her feeling uneasy...and confused. How much time did she really have to claim such things...living this kind of adventurer's life...

If Destiny...if Destiny hadn't...protected her...wouldn't she now be with Sune?

And so when someone had offered her a lap...the exhausted priestess had collapsed into it...already slipping into sleep before a hand touched her hair. And the dreams had come...warm and strange but happy and not unpleasant... And she drifted into them...embracing the escape they offered...before they slowly twisted into nightmares and monsters...and a horrible sense of wrong...

So she had woken with a cry, disoriented. She felt something warm...brush her forehead, and looked up into the mesmerizing eyes of Azarius, twinkling from the dark recesses of his hooded robe... "What...? What is it, dear friend?"

When had she...? Yuki pushed away from him, sitting up in a flutter of torn silks, the uncomfortably heavy breastplate making her slow and graceless in her disorientation. "...bad dream..." she murmured, looking around for Wren...only to see her curled up beside a softly singing Crowe...

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">...The older witch looked at her and seemed to offer her a place by her side, near the sleeping Wren. But Yuki could only shake her head... In this moment, Crowe...was as frightening as her nightmares... She could still smell the ozone in her hair and, while she accepted Crowe as someone who would not kill her intentionally, her body...felt no safety there...at her side. She envied Wren's peacefulness though... And not for the first time, the priestess longed for her parents...and Hana...and her friends...and Gregori...and Quill...

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The fighting in the corridor died down and Yuki could hear the sounds of metal and steel being sheathed. "All clear for the moment." She heard Kinu's voice murmur... "...Get a little sleep, Erevin."

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The priestess could feel Azarius looking at her kindly but it gave her little comfort... As considerate as the merchant prince always was towards her, she never felt quite safe near him. Whether it was his dark god's doing....or...her own vivid imagination, she couldn't say. She hoped to be a better friend to him in the future. But in this moment surrounded by the horrors of Szass Tam, all she wanted was to feel safe...and warm...without her mind...seething with nightmares.

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Shaking her head at Azarius, she murmured, "...thank you but... I...need to..." She smiled tiredly and shook her head again... She rose to her feet and walked a little ways away from both the sorcerer and the witches. Sweet Sune, she was so tired.

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just then Erevin came back into the room, wiping the elegant Moonblade against his leg before sheathing it. Even in her befuddled state, it was hard to ignore the blade...and all it meant for him. How could such a thing not also be called...a curse...

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Ranger's eyes took in the room filled with dozing casters before resting on Yuki, awake and standing, her back against the wall. He smiled and she instantly felt better, warmer...safer...

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Wasn't that the way it had always been for her...with Erevin. He was always so admirable and reliable and...heroic. Something in him...just made others feel safe... That he could somehow lead them through hell...and back again and everything...everyone would be ok. She...would be ok.

<span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Erevin?" The words tumbled from her beautiful lips before her mind...could stop them, "Would it...be ok if I...borrowed your shoulder? Just! Just...for...a little bit... I can't...seem to sleep..." She shrugged her pale shoulders, "...nightmares..." He was Shri's. Of course, that was true. But wouldn't it be ok...if just for a little while, she clung to the one thing that made her feel safe in this cursed place? Wouldn't that be ok... Just… for a little while...

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Clustered into the back of the room with all of the spellcasters left to sleep as the others swapped out, letting 2 sleep while 4 fought off the specters that continued to come into the room. Wren dozed wearily in and out of sleep, worried for everyone. She was exhausted. It had been such a long day in the estate, and who knew how much longer it was going to be before they got out. Her thoughts wandered over the still figure in the entryway... she had wanted to help release it from it's horrible prison, but they had been whisked away when Thorn put the rings back on its hand... what sort of hellish fate would yet fall on her and her companions.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Finding sleep difficult, and with Kale out fighting to protect them… Wren went over and snuggled against Crowe, who was sleeping in the corner. Crowe opened her eyes long enough to know the warm body against her belonged to her little sister. She put her arms around Wren and very softly sang to her in elven. The familiar lullaby had Wren sleeping soundly.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">From the darkness a dream extended in two directions… but the one that went to Wren was ever so softly reflected by a wall of mist cleverly hidden within Wren’s mind…

//<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">...Cherish and further illusions and rumors, distortion and legend are what make folk happy and life alluring… ////<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.5;">( //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.5;">http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Leira )

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">the dream started in… a peaceful grove filled with love and joy, but instead of a wedding, Wren seen her new circle of friends talking and laughing. Even her sister was there, singing for everyone. Wren leaned back into Kale’s strong arms and felt safe and happy in her dream.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Meanwhile… somewhere deep in the sea, a young aquatic woman awoke to a happy dream of a wedding with a handsome man who loved and cherished her. She sighed happily with the dreamy memory of the birth of the most beautiful, tentacled, baby boy.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Crowe opened her eyes to glance at Yuki who had cried out as she woke from her nightmare. Posy was getting up to take Erevin's place. //What is it with these girls and dreams?// Crowe sighed and glanced at the spot on the other side of Wren, almost like an invitation for the priestess to be near her, but simply re-closed her eyes and let sleep retake her when Yuki got up and went to Erevin. Wren sighed peacefully in her sleep unaware of anything that had transpired.

<span style="color: #009900; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Erevin glanced at Kinu as the last of the walking dead were dispatched, she stood with one of the horrors pinned to the wall with one of her Longfang Daggers and a wicked grin on her face. "I've got this, you should get a little sleep" she whispered to Erevin as she drifted back into the shadows. The young Ranger nodded to her in thanks, and made his way back to the others. Just as he was entering the room he heard a cry out from Yuki. He paused in the door way taking in the scene, sheathing his Eldritch blade. The main entry halls had been well blockaded and a small fire made from broken furniture dwindled in the corner of the room. Most of the others had been asleep there was some talk about Yuki's bad dream... another one he thought and wondered if all priestesses were plagued by such undercurrents in their sleep. He offered her his smile, a silent reassurance that he will make sure they all get home.

<span style="color: #009900; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Then in his mind’s eye he saw it again... the lightning bolt flash before his eyes arcing down the hall and striking her full on. For a moment he thought he had failed her... lost her like he had Shri. Not fast enough, not good enough.. then the glowing gossamer wings of Destiny unfurled from within Yuki and again she gasped for air. That was a close one... too close.

<span style="color: #009900; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> He made his way to the fire and placed a few more pieces of a chair on the bed of coals, the dry wood quickly ignited. He glanced back at Yuki as she approached. <span style="color: #8064a2; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> “Erevin?" The words tumbled from her beautiful lips before her mind...could stop them, "Would it...be ok if I...borrowed your shoulder? Just! Just...for...a little bit... I can't...seem to sleep..." <span style="color: #009900; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"of course" his reply was low and soft and welcoming. He tossed down his backpack for a back rest and cleaned her a spot beside him. Her touch was warm and her scent was intoxicating, as her head slipped from his shoulder to his chest, he pulled his cloak around her. He could feel her breathing slow and deepen, and he pulled her in close. It would be time to move soon. Moments such as these have been too few and too far in between. The woodsman closed his eyes and thought to himself... were things different... I would be yours.

Azarius sat there rocking back and forth in that cold dark place. //What was it that Yuki said?...Bad Dreams...//His eyes began to smolder. ”That's it!” he mumbled under his breath. //Another bad dream...poor Yuki! She’d been through so much today and now this.//

Azarius formed a new resolve. He would be strong and meet this head on. If his friends were going to suffer for them being close to him, then he would just wall himself off to protect them. //I’ll treat this like a business contract,// he thought, //if I'm formal, distant and business like maybe that will buy my friends some time to recover. I can focus on the task at hand and be a destructive killing machine if I have to.//

After all that's what sorcerers do best, and he felt he was shaping up quite nicely to be an effective battle mage. Destroy the enemy. Use your head. Be effective, and most of all keep your friends at arm’s length. //I can do that,// Azarius thought. There is a time and place for being close and developing ties that bind but for now he must fore go that.

He had to admit to himself that his ever increasing power was a bit intoxicating. He thought about what an imposing figure he must make when aroused to anger...12 feet tall, muscles bulging, tentacles waving about crackling with energy, and the presence of a Demi-God radiating from him...he couldn't help but smirk to himself.......a strange feeling washed over him.....was this really himself thinking this or was this the work of his dark benefactor? The part that scared him was...........he wasn't sure!