Observations

Contents
Recovery
Misfortune
Bloodlust
Escape

Recovery

It has been no simple measure retrieving her from the clutches of the vampyres, and our losses pain me to count, but hope glimmers in some of the others now that she is free. I, however, am not so sure.

Her sleep is restless, and when awake it is clear her mind remains at unease after her experiences.

I have tried probing for answers, yet I am greeted by little more than a solemn stare. Her scars must run deeper than any one of us can comprehend.

For now at least, we can take solace in her resolve. Her blade seeks blood as if it were itself a vampyre, and when carving a path for us through the battlefield, she seems to be somehow more fearless than ever before. I will maintain my observations and records as best I can, though the pace of this bloodshed rather outstrips my capacity to write.

Misfortune

It has become starkly clear that whatever occurred in her absence changed her at a fundamental level.

Whilst the light of Saradomin still sparks in her eyes, her skin has attained a pallor that sneaks through beneath the blood caked upon it. She has begun to look ragged too, but insists that she feels no worse than before.

I fear a sickness grows within her that we may not hold a cure for. A sickness that sneaks behind her accursed arrogance and puts us all at risk.

I pray to Saradomin that she pauses for a moment to allow us to examine her properly, though I know she never will.

Bloodlust

I had not expected her sickness to be one of the soul as well as the body. Her blade today turned upon one of her own, blind to his markings and deaf to his protestations. In that moment her eyes saw nothing and her heart sought blood.

We have buried what was left of him. During this process she remained at a distance, weighed down with a mixture of guilt and grief. I know only a little of how she feels, and even that gnaws at me. I wonder perhaps if she will ever see the other side of this war.

Escape

It became abundantly clear that we could not continue to fight with her condition worsening further, and so we have taken a decision I hope we do not come to regret.

We left Hallowvale at first light to seek a cure for her sickness. At her request, we shall travel by sea until we find somewhere where she can be in isolation. It is her guilt that plagues her most.

This ship provides little comfort to any of us. She stares at the moon as it hangs in the sky, and I am left wondering if we have made a mistake in leaving. Meanwhile, the pyrophoroi are, by every measure, too bored to function.

Our hope lies now in the future.

If Elessia can regain her strength, perhaps she will lead us once again to Hallowvale. If we can find new weapons of war that can stand up to the vampyres.

If.

That damned word.