Re: Flight of the Nachtherr
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:20 pm
No word had been had of either his parents, nor his brother. In the weeks since the rift had opened and the city of his birth had been torn apart he had, at first, hoped, and then feared, and as the familial silence extended, a part of Stefan went silent too. Left unknowing, not willing to step past what was missing, or grieve for it, only hold on, in stillness, like a breath unable to escape. Now came the day when, more than likely, his answers would be found and he found himself reluctant. One might imagine, if one had the chance to know the fate of one's family, it would be a good thing, one way or another. But for Stefan, it almost felt as of not knowing was better, that he could just bury the fraught complication that was his blood and never have to face it or its loss.
Now he was aboard the Nachtherr, Eitan having arrived at the Windworks after extending his recovery at White Knight Hall, with his Dienerin at the helm. Stefan had directed the loading of the two armor suits that they would debut in a real world setting for the first time in an exploration of whatever was left of Dornkirk Manor. Unless there was no trace to be found, Stefan suspected he would receive answers he did want, one way or the other when they arrived at their destination.
As they flew he stepped close to his brother-in-law and said, quietly,
"Eitan, I..." Pausing he cleared his throat, tried to find words for things that were too big to fit into anything so mundane as conversation. He glanced down and then back up at Eitan's face, hoping it would understand when he finished with, "Never mind, it will wait."
It was a comfort, having him there, a solid representation that not all was lost, that not everyone he considered family had disappeared. Stefan had a wife, and a daughter now, he would be an uncle soon. There were reasons to keep himself steady, to keep moving on.
Soon they were climbing into the suits, now reinforced by the Negation magic of the Order mages who had been left at the Windworks, strapping in and flexing their limbs withing the metal casings to warm them up. When the hatch was opened and they stepped out it was immediately obvious that the Manor had been struck during the initial storm that had literally torn the city apart. The whole front entrance, and a quarter of the building to each side was collapsed in a pile of rubble. Stefan took a slow breath through his nose and made himself step out of the way so Eitan could follow him across the broke street to where the once intricate iron gate was now nothing but twisted metal pushed aside by some surge of energy. As he stepped closer he saw that, where the steps leading to the door had once been was something other than stone and mortar, more than one something. Curiosity was quicker than sense and he was bending onto one knee to get close enough to inspect what he was seeing before he thought better of it.
It took a long moment before he could process what his eyes were seeing, even when he concentrated his mind refused to put together the information. It was the compass that finally snapped him into understanding. Beside a set of long, oddly intricate, interconnected bronze tubes was the gift he'd given Brenner on his last birthday. The metal was scorched him the piece, magically enhanced to survive combat, seemed to be intact. Glancing around he found, on the other side of the half-buried bronze construction, a lighter, also fine, that he knew had been Eitan's gift for the same event. Looking up at the other things he couldn't understand he noticed a bit of metal that had obviously once been a necklace that he recognized as his mother's.
Bile rose in his throat so fast he smelled it before he felt it burning as he recoiled back a half-dozen steps into the street. He didn't remember falling, and it didn't hurt, since he was in his armor, but he sat there, on his ass, blinking and trying to think past the ringing in his head so loud it seemed like someone had rung his helmet like a bell.
Now he was aboard the Nachtherr, Eitan having arrived at the Windworks after extending his recovery at White Knight Hall, with his Dienerin at the helm. Stefan had directed the loading of the two armor suits that they would debut in a real world setting for the first time in an exploration of whatever was left of Dornkirk Manor. Unless there was no trace to be found, Stefan suspected he would receive answers he did want, one way or the other when they arrived at their destination.
As they flew he stepped close to his brother-in-law and said, quietly,
"Eitan, I..." Pausing he cleared his throat, tried to find words for things that were too big to fit into anything so mundane as conversation. He glanced down and then back up at Eitan's face, hoping it would understand when he finished with, "Never mind, it will wait."
It was a comfort, having him there, a solid representation that not all was lost, that not everyone he considered family had disappeared. Stefan had a wife, and a daughter now, he would be an uncle soon. There were reasons to keep himself steady, to keep moving on.
Soon they were climbing into the suits, now reinforced by the Negation magic of the Order mages who had been left at the Windworks, strapping in and flexing their limbs withing the metal casings to warm them up. When the hatch was opened and they stepped out it was immediately obvious that the Manor had been struck during the initial storm that had literally torn the city apart. The whole front entrance, and a quarter of the building to each side was collapsed in a pile of rubble. Stefan took a slow breath through his nose and made himself step out of the way so Eitan could follow him across the broke street to where the once intricate iron gate was now nothing but twisted metal pushed aside by some surge of energy. As he stepped closer he saw that, where the steps leading to the door had once been was something other than stone and mortar, more than one something. Curiosity was quicker than sense and he was bending onto one knee to get close enough to inspect what he was seeing before he thought better of it.
It took a long moment before he could process what his eyes were seeing, even when he concentrated his mind refused to put together the information. It was the compass that finally snapped him into understanding. Beside a set of long, oddly intricate, interconnected bronze tubes was the gift he'd given Brenner on his last birthday. The metal was scorched him the piece, magically enhanced to survive combat, seemed to be intact. Glancing around he found, on the other side of the half-buried bronze construction, a lighter, also fine, that he knew had been Eitan's gift for the same event. Looking up at the other things he couldn't understand he noticed a bit of metal that had obviously once been a necklace that he recognized as his mother's.
Bile rose in his throat so fast he smelled it before he felt it burning as he recoiled back a half-dozen steps into the street. He didn't remember falling, and it didn't hurt, since he was in his armor, but he sat there, on his ass, blinking and trying to think past the ringing in his head so loud it seemed like someone had rung his helmet like a bell.