Chapter Text
“At last, I’ve found you.”
He saw her twitch, her tail stiffening and her ears lowering. He swallowed tightly.
Surr turned around slowly, her purple eyes narrowed, and for a moment he couldn’t breath.
She was just as beautiful as he remembered. Deceptively delicate features, slight frame and fire blazing in her eyes. White hair bound in a ponytail, with fringe falling over her amethyst eyes, full, plush lips, with corners turned down as she stared him down, even though she we nearly head lower than him.
Wicked white… How he missed her.
G'raha's fingers tightened around the staff, as he bid his pounding heart to calm.
“Please! There is no cause for alarm!” he assured quickly. “…Though, I confess, this in not where I had intended to meet.”
Her white tail swung behind her in clear agitation, her ears lowered considerably. Only a habit build over a hundred years helped him not to twitch nervously… much.
“But the place of our meeting is of no consequence… like the war you wage,” he saw her twitch, her tail stilling. “Win or lose, the path you walk leads only to oblivion.”
“The better path leads you here. To me,” he recited, years of rehearsal not stopping his traitorous heart from squeezing painfully. “I have need of your strength.”
“That's rich,” she hissed, her eyes turning into slits. “So you kidnap me in the middle of the battle, because you need yourself a Weapon of Light? Get in line,” she spat. “Who are…”
He saw her nostrils flare and her whole body stiffen, her eyes going wide minutely.
Ohh… He twitched nervously, old mark on his shoulder, covered by crystal pulsed lightly. Her hand raised to her own shoulder as if in reflex and he swallowed tightly.
He should have known. No robes or glamour could mask their connection.
“Raha…?” she whispered, her eyes going impossibly wide, plush lips parting on a gasp. “Is this a dream…? What…?”
He sighed in resignation, averting his eyes.
“Surr…” he swallowed painfully, fingers tightening around the staff. He heard her make few uncertain steps, stopping right in front of him, Rift swirling around them.
“Raha?” her voice was low and when he looked back at her, she raised her arm swiftly. He barely had time to react as she pulled the cowl of his head, his ears springing up in surprise. “What happened…? Ohh…”
Surr raised her hand, fingers tracing gently over patch of crystal covering his cheek, dragging over his crystal-covered throat to the edge of his robes.
She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. Then she brought her hand up, pinching bridge of her nose.
“That's it,” she murmured under her breath, with resignation in her voice. “I finally snapped.”
He frowned. It wasn’t reaction he could have expected.
“Surr…?” he whispered with uncertainty, his free hand raising toward her face.
“So,” she rasped, pinning him under hard stare of narrowed purple eyes. “I’m dead? Or are you an Ascian, who finally figured out how to break me?” she clenched her teeth, her ears lowering in clear distress. “You know what? I don’t care,” before he had time to react, she raised her hands, fisted them in his robes and pulled harshly, slanting her lips over his.
He gasped, and she used it to push her tongue in his mouth. G’raha moaned, his free hand raising to tangle in her hair as her taste made his head spin.
Gods, he missed her.
“Gods, you even taste like him,” she whispered against his lips after a moment, her eyes closed tightly. His eyes watered and he blinked hard. “Am I really dead?”
“You’re not, Surr. And I’m sorry, I should have know…” he whispered, his voice tight.
She opened her eyes, pining him with hard stare.
“Shut up,” she hissed, sinking her fingers in his faded hair, pulling him hard in another kiss.
His head was spinning, but Gods, she always had this effect on him. Ever since the day he met her.
He was shocked to find out that cute adventurer he led on a merry chase around Twelveswood was famed Warrior of Light.
He was even more shocked when the very same evening, when most of their comrades turned in to their respective tents, she sneaked in his and seduced him.
Not that he put up much of a fight. She was beautiful and honestly, he was flattered that she wanted him, G'raha Tia, of all people. But as he learned later, when Surr wanted something, she went for it with single-minded, furious determination.
Sharp pull on his robes brought him back to the present.
“Surr…” he choked out, panting, pulling his lips back from hers with effort, his fingers clenching in her hair. “I can’t… The spell…”
She leaned away and regarded him from under lowered lashes, her head tilted back, as she bit her bruised lower lip. Gods, she was so beautiful.
“It’s not a dream?” she finally asked. “And I’m not dead?”
“No,” he assured, trying not to think why he pulled her into the Rift. “I need you to come to me.”
“Raha,” her smile was slow, mischievous. Her hand raised to his cheek. “You only need to ask. I’m yours,” she purred and he nearly lost his head.
He pulled her close, resting his head against her shoulder and breath in deeply, her scent making his thoughts spin.
“Gods, how I missed you,” he whispered brokenly.
She wound her arms around his neck, raising on her toes as she embraced him tightly. Instinctively, he nosed at his old, faded mark on her shoulder. She purred deep in her throat.
“Where are you?” she rasped against his crystal-covered throat. “You’re truly my Raha? What happened? I thought I will never see you again,” there were tears in her soft voice, and he whimpered softly.
Somehow he convinced himself that she won’t remember him. That she moved on. Still, just in case, his cowl and glamour were supposed to keep his identity secret. He really should have known better. Ever since very first day, she chased him with a determination that nearly scared him.
Still, his plans, her survival, took priority. He just needed to adjust.
“I need your help,” he whispered against her ear, making it twitch. “Go to the Crystal Tower. I have left something for you near its base. It will serve as a beacon of sorts. One which I pray will help you on your journey.”
She leaned away, looking at him with open, hopeful expression.
“Then I’ll find you?”
He moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, cupping it gently. She closed her eyes, tilting her head into his touch. His heart melted.
“Soon we will throw wide the gates…” he lowered his head, brushing his lips against hers, his crystal hand tightening around the staff. She sighed softly, opening her amethyst eyes and looking up at him with eyes full of unshed tears.
“And the path to the First will be yours to walk at least,” he finished, sharply cutting off the spell.
“Raha!” last thing he heard was her gasp his name, last thing he saw was her arm stretched toward him as Rift pulled them apart.
He opened his eyes slowly, sighed, looking around the Ocular. Carelessly, he let his crystal staff fall to the ground, as he pressed his hands against his face, sharp sob ripping from his throat.
Gods, how he missed her.
After a moment, he wiped at his face, picked up his staff, straightened his back, and making sure his cowl and glamour were in place, headed toward the door.
He needed to prepare everything for her arrival.