The destiny of Alric of Dacia.

"Thirteen long years I have been here. A lowly slave to the roman devils. Thirteen years of hell and degridation. Thirteen is a number they have whispered in fear, I will use it, to win my freedom." Alric thought to himself while he was left, chained to a wall, his head cast down, so none of the passing guards could see the mad smile that stretched across his cracked lips.

"A wizard is coming, I've heard them talk of him, one who holds a holy spear. Though they have kept me sick from too little to eat, I have kept myself strong with the work they force me to do. I am surely stronger than some musty old wizard! I will take from him his spear, kill him with it, and any other who blocks my path to freedom!" Alric licked his lips, tasting salt and blood as he heard the shrieking of old metal.

The wizard, spear in hand, entered, accompanied by two guards. Alric let his head hang, pretending to be weak. The wizard came forward, using his spear to lift Alric's head. Alric lolled his head to the side instead, like a dog who had been beaten, and was too weak to stand. "Unchain him." The wizard commanded, and his men were about the task.

Alric fell roughly to the muddy ground, only to be circled by the wizard. "This? You fear this?!" The man hissed, incredulously, poking at Alric's shoulder with the blunt end of his spear. "Right where I want you, wizard." Alric thought as his body sprung into action. Gripping the fine wood of the spear's lower end, Alric sprung to his feet, forcing the bladed head of the spear through the foolish wizards chest. The man gurgled and choaked on his own blood, and would be dead in but a moment. The guards shouted in fear and outrage as they drew their swords and charged Alric.

Drawing the blade sharply from the dead wizard's body, Alric felt a jolt of energy go through his own. He deflected the first guards attack, peircing the man's throat lethally. The second guard's blade bit into Alric's side before he could kill the man. Alric dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth in pain, the other guard fell dead.

Alric checked his wound, lifting himself to his feet with the spear. Hearing trampling foot falls coming down through the dark, Alric walked painfully to the cell door, which had been left unlocked. "No matter." Alric thought. "I will meet my death at the hands of these guards, or be free."

As the roman guards rounded the corner, they came to a stop. The first among them shouted a warning about the holy spear. "How they are controled by their fears..." Alric wondered, feeling the first wave of sluggishness from blood loss washing over him. they cautiously advanced a few steps before stopping again.

Alric held the spear at the ready, waiting for them to strike when he noticed through sweat blurred eyes that the head of the spear was beginging to glow.
All were stunned, watching as the brightness of it increased. The light became too great for Alric's night honed eyes, and a sharp stab of pain went through his head.


Just as quickly as the light had grown, it faded away to darkness. Alric was gone, the guards alone in the dungeon.



***
one thousand, seven hundred years later.
***

the intensity of the light was far too great, the pain in Alric's head worse than any pain he had ever known. He fell unconcious, not to the dungeon floor, but onto a floor that felt like warm, dry grass, and smelled of flowers. Even in unconciousness, Alric grasped the spears shaft with an unbreakable grip.

Lilly

Lilly hadn’t slept well. Her night had been filled with restless dreams of a Neanderthal looking guy with a big spear. It was like taking part in a Conan movie with no que cards and a really bad director. She’d woken exhausted and her head was throbbing. She needed an Advil.

Rubbing her eyes she made her way to the kitchen and the much needed headache pills. What a night. Thank goodness it was Saturday and she didn’t have to work otherwise she would have called in sick. Glass of water in hand, she headed back to her bedroom when something in the living room caught her eye.

Protruding from behind the sofa was what looked to be a foot. A very dirty foot. And beside it was another. “What the….?” Lilly moved closer, her curiosity competing with her fear. The feet seemed to be attached to equally filthy legs. Had some street bum broken into her apartment in the night and passed out on her new Persian rug?

She moved close enough to see right over the sofa and had to stuff her hand into her own mouth to smother a scream. There, in the middle of her rug, was a virtually naked, very large, very hairy, and very grubby man. She watched his back for a few seconds, watching for movement. Good, he was still breathing. Now to call for help. But what to do? The phone was on the coffee table right beside the big smelly bum. As quietly as she could, she stepped around the sofa and over his legs. He moaned a little and she froze mid step, biting her lip to stop from screaming. The phone was just a few more steps away. She edged around him, taking care not to touch him, and picked up the phone. 911.

“I’m sorry but all our operators are busy right now. Your call has been placed in a que. Please hold and you will be answered by the first available operator.” Lilly couldn’t believe her ears. 911 put her on HOLD!!!??? As she tried to come to terms with this she felt something warm around her toes.

This time she did scream, dropping the phone and backing over the coffee table, landing on her ass a few feet from the man. He was bleeding, badly, and the blood was flooding across her rug. Not even dry cleaning was going to get that stain out. She grabbed the phone again placing it against her ear. She was still on hold.

The man moaned again, and moved his arms closer to his body. It was only then that Lilly noticed the spear he clung to.
“Oh God, he’s armed!!” She was still on hold….. Damn emergency services.
What to do? She couldn’t just leave him there to bleed to death all over her floor. She dashed to the bathroom and grabbed some towels and the medical kit. She was no Florence Nightingale but she did have a first aid certificate proudly hung in the hall.
Rolling him over, she looked at the wound. It was deep, and bleeding badly. She folded a towel and pressed it hard over the hole in this side then used a wet towel to clean the area around it as much as she could without taking the pressure off. No way was tape going to stick to all that dirt. With the area cleaned and dried as much as possible, she taped the towel tightly to his body but continued applying pressure with her hand.

She checked the phone again. She’d lost the connection, or they had hung up. Either way, she was going to have to write a serious letter to someone about this. And it wasn’t going to be on pretty paper either.

With the clean end of the wet towel, she wiped the man’s face. He felt warm, perhaps the beginning of a fever, and felt more compelled to help him then to have him arrested. He moaned again and his eyes began to flicked. Lilly held her breath…..

Alric

The grip of unconciousness loosened upon Alric, and be began to break free of it. His eyes opened slowly, a woman's face hovered over him. Her skin was luminous, her hair clean as it hung about her shoulders. Her expression was one of... Fright? And... Concern? She smelled as clean as a roman queen, but did not act as one...

Alric tried to sit up but the pain in his head and in his side held him flat to the ground. The ground, it was strange, it felt soft like grass, but not cool. Coolness, if only he could put some coolness back into his body, it felt as though it were on fire. Alric's body contorted as he cried out for water, cool, cool water.

His words were alien to this woman, he could tell, even through bleery eyes, the look of confusion on her face. "She must be a new roman, unacustomed to the land of the goths. Not yet understanding our language. Why hasn't she turned me over to her kind?" Looking down, he saw that she was holding a length of soft cloth to his side. Remembering his wound, Alric stared wonderingly at this roman woman. "Why is she helping me?"

He grunted a warning, grasping the bundled up cloth away from her, while lifting the spear. "The spear, it is still with me! Good!" Scooting back, away from this woman, Alric lifted the cloth to examine the wound as he leveled the spear's head toward her, to keep her at bay.

Quickly pressing the cloth back to the seeping wound, Alric lifted his eyes upon the woman. She was on her knees, seeming taken aback by his sudden retreat. Turning his head slightly to one side, squinting his right eye, he demanded her name. His words might as well have fallen upon deaf ears, it was obvious that she didn't understand him, even when he spoke clearly. Touching his chest, Alric pronounced his name slowly for the dumb roman woman. "Aulreek." is how it sounded to the woman's ears.

Lilly

As the man backed away from her, Lilly looked into his eyes and saw the fear and confusion there. She wondered if he had any idea that she was far more afraid of him then he could possibly be of her. She didn’t know what to do next. He was mumbling at her in a language she couldn’t understand. “Great. Just great. Not only do I have a smelly, half naked man bleeding all over my apartment, he’s a tourist as well. Probably one of those exchange students from the University. Just my luck. I finally get a man in my apartment and he looks like he wants to kill me.” She knew he probably didn’t understand a word she said, but it made her feel a little more comfortable to ramble on senselessly.

He was still bleeding badly and his face was becoming paler. When he said his name and pointed to himself, Lilly understood what he meant, so she followed his lead. Touching her own chest she said “Lilly” then she reached for the glass of water she was going to use to take her headache pills earlier and held it out to him. “Drink” She tried to hide the fear in her own eyes and smile, but as much as she was afraid of him, she could not help but feel compassion.

Alric

"L'ully." Alric said with a nod, a wave of exhaustion comming over him. His eyes fluttered in his head as he tried to shake the feeling. She was afraid of him, and he of her, but still, she offered him a vessel.

"Drreek?" He asked a little dumbly, his face begining to feel numb and cold. She was handing it to him. He took it weakly and sniffed at it. A coil of recognition went off in his mind. "Water!" The thought repeated over and over well after he had gulped the vessel down. Such a small quantity, he needed more! He thrusted the cup out toward the woman, his eyes suddenly wide with need.

She was kind, especially for a roman, he wondered desperately if she would continue to be kind. He had lowered the spear, setting it at his side, but was never so absent of mind that he could not bring it to bear at a second's notice if she were to suddenly turn on him, or bring more guards.

Lilly

He drank the water and held out the class for more. Lilly’s head was in a spin. Part of her wanted to fetch him more water, and the other part of her wanted to run around the room, waving her arms in the air, and scream hysterically. She tried to think, but there was something about him, his eyes, his expression, his confusion that made her decide to aid him.

She backed away from him slowly, not wanting to startle him, and moved quickly to the kitchen. She filled a jug with water and returned to the living room as calmly as possible. Filling his glass, she set the jug down before him and moved back. She took a moment to appraise him a little further. He was going to need some kind of medical attention. But what to do? Biting her bottom lip in thought, she worked out a plan. First she rolled up the blood soaked rug. It’s wasn’t much good now anyway, and placed it to the side of the room. Then she brought out an old mattress from the spare room, and some sheets, and lay them down where the rug had been. Next she fetched an old pillow and a blanket, making up a rough bed on the floor. She had planned to give these things to charity after her flat mate moved out, but never got around to it. They were perfect now for what she wanted to do.

His eyes followed her every move, so she was careful not to do anything that might be seem as a threat. Next she fetched a bowl of warm water, and some clean towels. Setting the coffee table back on it’s feet, she placed them beside the bed.

Now was the difficult part, getting him to lay down so that she could better dress and clean his wound. She showed him the towels and the water, and motioned to the bed for him to come over to it, then prayed he understood what she was trying to do. Keeping her voice soft, she beckoned him.

“Alric. Let me help you. Lay here.”

Though she was aiding him, Alric could see that L'ully was weary of his presence in her aboad. Her home, he began to look about at it. It was an amasing and strange place. There was a table, its surface solid enough to hold several objects, yet it was completely see through. He could only assume that it was enchanted some how. The seats that filled the room were covered in an unnatural grass like substance, similar to what was on the floor.

He drank down the new vessel of water L'ully had brought for him while watching her take up a section of the unnatural grass he had been laying upon. Later still, while he was pouring some of the water that was left over his wound, attempting to wash it clean, he saw that she brought out a long rectangular cushin, a pillow and a blanket

She was going to give him bedding for the night? How could this be? She was very brave to have no fear of the romans who would surely break down her door in the middle of the night.

He stopped cleaning his wound when he saw her bring forth a bowl of steaming water and a thatch of cloth. If she intended to see to his wound, Alric was certain she could do a better job then he.

She turned to him, beaconing him over while speaking to him. He caught his name amongst her foreign words, but that was all. But still, her soft voice was the sweetest thing he had heard in a very long time.

So, rising unsteadily to his feet, Alric took up the spear, strode over to the bed, and nearly collapsed upon the bed.

Lilly cleaned and dressed his wound, feeling his eyes watching her every move. His flesh was warming, no doubt a fever from the wound though there was no sign of infection. She gave him a soft, reassuring smile and went to the bathroom to find some painkillers. She dissolved some medication in some water, and added a little brandy. Hopefully this would help his fever and pain, and maybe even make him relax a little. He clung to that ancient looking spear like his life depended on it. She wondered where a street bum would have come into possession of such an artefact. Perhaps when he was more rested he would be able to give her some answers.

When she gave him the medication he sniffed it first suspiciously, as if he feared she might be trying to poison him, and when he drank the brew, he screwed up his face in such disgust that Lilly could not help but chuckle. With a clean wash cloth, she began wiping his face, brushing his matted hair back and taking a better look at his features.

He was not as old as she had assumed, and there were many small scars about his face and neck. His jaw was square set and his forehead was quite broad. His features were strong but not quite as primitive as she first surmised. There was something different about him though. Something about the way he presented his self, about his mannerism, and the way he took in every detail of his surroundings with his deep brown eyes. It made him seem almost…. Majestic.

Her tummy grumbled and she realized she’d missed breakfast. He was probably hungry as well, but first she needed to dress. Wearing only the t-shirt and panties she had slept in, she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable when his intense gaze rested on her. Touching his shoulder she said softly, “I’ll be back with some food shortly.” And she left him to rest.

Alric

Alric remained silent while L'ully nursed his wound. Her hands were light and cool against his skin. She rose to her feet with a smile, having finished tending the wound. He mimicked her smile slowly, leaning on his good side, propped up only by the spear.

While she was out of the room, Alric looked about again, across from him was a black box set atop a small table and just below it there was another black box, rectangular in shape. What caught his attention about this box was that it had a glowing red eye. It winked in a constant rhythem, even when Alric made a quick movement that cost him a wave of nausia, it was not threatened, it simply lay there, blinking at him.

As long as the creature did no more than blink at him, Alric would leave it be, but if it began to threaten him... L'ully returned with another small vessel. Alric looked up at her as she came to him. He took the vessel, sniffing it. It had a strange discoloration, but did not smell of almond. He took a slow drink of it, swallowing it with a grimace. He imagined that this potion, for certainly that is what it was, had been made by boiling the underside of a toad in a weak mead.

Horrid though it may taste, Alric understood that it was a healing potion so he finished it in a couple gulps after L'ully had cleaned his face. He was begining to feel as though she was not a roman, but perhaps woman from a foreign land, taken into slavery as a servant girl. She was not cold to him as a roman woman would have been, she did not dress as a roman woman would have dressed. Her legs were bare, and her chemise was of such a flimsy material.

For a moment they sat before one another, just looking, that moment broken only by a noise of hunger from L'ully's belly. She touched him as she stood, speaking in her strange tongue softly.

While she was gone, Alric kept the strange, winking creature at bay with his spear...

Lilly

Lilly slipped into a pair of baggy jeans and tank top, quite appropriate for this warm weather and comfortable as well. She quickly brushed her hair and sprayed on a little deodorant. The last thing she wanted was to smell like Alric.

As she moved from the bedroom to the kitchen she peeked in on Alric. He was propped up a little, his spear pointed at the DVD player, as if keeping it at bay. The image made her smile, it was like watching a child, but it also made her all the more curious about him. He’d obviously never seen a DVD player before. Odd.

Opening the fridge she looked over what was available for breakfast. Not much. She couldn’t remember the last time she did grocery shopping, tending to eat mostly take out now that she was a single girl. She took out some cold chicken, and some cheese, spread them over a few slices of bread and placed them under the grill. All in all, not a bad breakfast on such short notice.

Returning to the living room, she placed a plate with two of the toasted sandwiches in front of Alric and took a seat on the sofa across from him with her own plate. The melted cheese was hot, but tasted good on an empty stomach.

When L'ully returned, she had brought a plate of food with her. Alric scooted forward, kneeling in front of the table she had placed it on. He smelled chicken, but it was not whole, it was cut into small pieces and laid between two slices of bread, along with some strange, oozing yellow stuff. Alric took up the food, devouring it quickly. When he was done, he watched L'ully eating her food.

I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Life has been less then forgiving. Such is my fate.



Lilly

Lilly had not yet finished her first sandwich when Alric had finished devouring both of his. It was like he hadn’t eaten in months. As hungry as she was, she could not see another person go hungry, so she picked up her plate and offered it to him. He hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the food and ate it just as fast as the last portion. He really seemed to be starving. One thing Lilly remembered from watching the Discovery channel was that you should never give a lot of food to someone who has been starved. Their stomaches can’t hold it, so she thought it best not to give him any more just yet. Besides, there wasn’t much else in the kitchen to offer him anyway.

She gave him another glass of water and then coaxed him to lay back on the pillow. He was pale from blood loss, and she could see he was exhausted. Rest was the best thing for him, and it would give her a chance to think what on earth to do with him. She should call the authorities and have him take to where ever it was they took homeless bums, but there was something about him that made her more curious then afraid. Kneeling down beside him, she wiped his face again with the moist towel. He was still hot but the medication should kick in soon and that should help. She turned to rinse the towel in the water and when she turned back, he was asleep.

This was her chance. She grabbed her purse and her keys and made for the elevator, but before she could reach it, the doors closed and she was left standing in the hallway. “Damn” she wanted to be as quick as possible. She wasn’t sure what he would do if he woke alone in her apartment. Probably stab her new DVD player to death. She made for the stairs. Good thing she was only on the second floor. The store was at the end of the block, and it only took her a few minutes to reach it.

She grabbed the basics. Frozen pizza, frozen chips, canned peas, coke, chocolate, and other essentials. She also grabbed some men’s toiletries and a pair of clippers. If she was going to help him, he would have to look a little more human and a lot less Neanderthal. By the time she made it back to her apartment door, she was out of breath and fumbled with her keys before she managed to get the door open. Her arms full of groceries, she almost stumbled through the door. She’d only been gone about half an hour, but it appeared to be about twenty nine and a half minutes too long.

“Oh Shit Alric, what have you done?” she almost dropped the bags as she looked at her uninvited guest.

Anya

Anya was in her appartment, curled up on the couch watching a movie with a big tub of chocolate ice cream and a can of whipped cream next to her. She had just been dumped and and was drowning her sorrows in chocolate and cream. She fluctuated between mad, sad and confused. She didn't know why he dumped her. Just out of the blue... It's not that she wasn't attractive. She wasn't stunning either, 5'2'', long dark hair, olive complexion, green eyes and curvy... She didn't understand. She muttered something about him being a superficial bastard anyway.

She could hear strange noises coming from the appartment directly across the hall.. The woman who lived there, what was her name...? Lilly, thats right.. She wondered what the woman had in there. She shruged and turned her movie off, grabbed a book and read.

Half an hour and 2 tubs of ice cream later, she heard footsteps in the hall acompanied by the crumpling noises of grocery bags. It reminded her she needed groceries too, and she got up to make a shopping list, but stopped when she heard the woman say, "Shit..."

Curious, Anya opened her door and stood behind the woman in the hallway, mouth around her ankles at the sight in the womans appartment...

Alric

Alric had only drifted off for a few minutes before he awoke with a start. He looked about the room, his eyes wild. Something had spoken to him in his sleep, He had understood it in the language of the Goths, but he also knew, somehow, that it was speaking to him in the strange language of the roman woman who had been healing him.

He got to his feet, stumbling around the room as he held his head, a sudden streak of pain shooting behind his eyes. The next fifteen minutes, he thrashed about, wielding the spear. Breaking the glass coffee table, leaving several gaping slashes in the couch, knocking the TV from its stand, Alric stumbled into the kitchen area, barking as another white hot shot of pain went through his mind. He understood that the man sized white block he was pulling down was called a refrigerator, a place to put meat to keep it from spoiling in the sun. That the block he was bashing at was an endlessly renewable, self contained cooking fire.

So much knowledge was being forced into his mind so quickly, it was more than Alric could handle, and he collapsed on his side, among the scattered remains of L'ully's 'kitchen.' He was panting for breath when L'ully returned...

Anya gasped, not only at the mess in the appartment, but at the man who apparently caused it. She touched Lilly on the shoulder and whispered gently in her ear.

"Hey, are you alright... Lilly isn't it...? ... What's going on here.. who is that man? Want me to call the cops...?"

Welcome back Ravenloft. I was starting to worry. Is everything ok?



Lilly glanced at the woman from across the hall but was a little lost for words. Her apartment was trashed. Alric lay on the kitchen floor, groaning as if in agony. She quickly set the bags down and ushered the woman from across the hall out of the apartment.

"Thanks, but I can take care of this. He's probably a little drunk again. Thanks for your concern though. I better go plug the refidgerator back in." she almost pushed the woman out and closed the door behind her. She had never been so rude to anyone in all her life, but she didn't know what else to do.

Rushing to Alric, she checked him over but there didn't appear to be any new damage. The wound in his side was still bleeding a little but seemed to be healing amazingly fast. His body was hot to touch, like he had a fever, so Lilly grabbed a wash cloth and wiped his face with cool water. There was no way she could move him back to the matress. He had to be at least twice her size and weight, so she brought the pillow and blanket to him. After making him as comfortable as she could, she cleaned the kitchen around him. Lifting the refidgerator back into place was no easy thing, but she had to move it so she could clean all of the broken glass on the floor. Her mother was not going to be happy about the dinner set she had given her for her last birthday being smashed to bits, but then Lilly was never fond of the blue geese and orange ducks in the design anyway.

Alric groand some more and thrashed about in his fever, but Lilly was at a loss as to what to do for him. She placed all of the cushions and pillows she could find around him so that he couldn't him himself more then sat by his head, wiping his face with cool water, fretting like a mother over a sick child.

Anya was a little stunned by the womans behaviour, but shrugged it off as shock. She could hear muffled groaning from inside the appartment, but felt she better not interfer. She went back into her appartment and closed the door.

OOC: Sorry for taking so long to post, its just life's been keeping me from getting any time online lately. Still with me Lilly? Here comes a shocker for ya!

IC:

Alric:

Opening his eyes, Alric looked up at L'ully, catching ahold of her wrist as she cleaned his brow. "Cloth... Wash cloth... Cool wash cloth." He sat up, releasing her arm. "L'ully heals..." He turned to fix her in his gaze."