A dark bandit den

Krylancelo struggled against an overwhelming exhaustion to open his eyes. As his lids parted, he could make out the blurry visage of Faylen looming over him. He weakly reached up to lay his hand on her cheek. "Thank you, I knew you would come to your..." His voice trailed off as Faylen came into focus. He stared in disbelief at the blood red color of her eyes. A color that would surely haunt him for the rest of his life. His gaze dropped down to her mouth. No longer the mouth of a lady, but the maw of a monster. He became keenly aware of her hand positioning his head. He felt even further lightheaded when he felt they way she clawed at his toga, clearly intent on removing any obstacles between her and his skin. Krylancelo hoped that Gothmog was nearby, for he knew he lacked the strength to deter Lady Faylen for long. He just needed to buy a little time.

Krylancelo hastily conjured what little energy he had into a spell. he channeled whatever energy he had left into his hand that he tried to touch her cheek with. His hand would erupt into brilliant light. He would then place that hand as close to her eyes as possible, with the intent of driving her back and away from him. Krylancelo would then be wracked with pain and cough up blood due to the exertion of casting the spell. Tears would stream from his eyes, whether that is from his wound or the stress of casting, he did not know. It is likely that they are tears of despair. He had so desperately hoped he could help Lady Faylen. Everything's changed now. He saw the hunger in her eyes, and felt the way she desperately tugged at his toga.

Should the brilliant light spell deter Lady Faylen, Krylancelo would then struggle to crawl away and call out to Captain Gothmog. However, if Lady Faylen would be unaffected by such magic, Krylancelo would be helpless to break free of her grasp.

Gothmog watched as the blinding flash of light erupted momentarily. One large hand flew up to shield his exposed eye but he kept moving forward towards the pair, even as he saw Faylen reel backwards from the visual assault. A coil of rope appeared from his pack as he approached Faylen, he had no desire to be bit or to have to chase her again, so providing there was no resistance he would tie her feet together in the same you secured a ship to another when boarding. As he worked to bind her feet and hands, he would be borderline yelling at the impaled mage.

"You are a bloody idiot Krylancelo!!! What do you think this is? Some sort of romantic tale of chivalry where she will just stop running or being a blodsucking monster because some man she just met asked nicely?? No! That's not how it works out here in the real world. Out here, you get impaled on tree branches as a hungry vampire runs at you while your back up is too far away to rescue you! I ought to leave you there!!"

Krylancelo rested at the base of the tree, his gaze fixated on Faylen and Gothmog. The dire rage in her eyes was terrifying. She truly was more beast than human at this point. Krylancelo shivered as he thought about how close he had come to being bitten. He could still feel her breath on his skin. Krylancelo maintained pressure on his bandages while observing Gothmog attempt to force the vile concoction down Faylen's' throat. Could this return her to her senses? By the stars, I need this to work. Krylancelo recalled the wooden stake that Gothmog had fashioned for his crossbow. Krylancelo wondered if he would have the fortitude to pull the trigger on a bound woman, regardless of the fact that she is a vampire. Krylancelo shook his head as if to free himself of that line of thinking. He needed to stay focused in the events before him. 

Krylancelo sat up and entered a meditative state. Still cognizant of his surroundings, Krylancelo delved deep into his mind and spirit, searching for any semblance of energy. He just needed to scrape up enough energy to stabilize his wound. He slowly found a trickle of energy within the deepest recesses of his spirit. This energy, was different though. It felt different then his usual mana. It felt almost... older. I will need to pursue this further, but for now this should suffice in stabilizing my wound. Krylancelo gathered this strange mana and imagined his wound closing and the body repairing its damage. Krylancelo stared wide-eyed as this mana manifested itself around his abdomen. Krylancelo's healing magic usually appears as a light blue energy. This time however, it appeared blacker than the darkest night sky, devoid of stars. When the magic faded, Krylancelo cautiously reached towards his wound. Expecting to feel the damaged skin and a sharp pain, he was stunned to feel smooth skin. He looked down, not even a scar remained to tarnish his skin.

Krylancelo wearily stood up and slowly approached Gothmog and Faylen. "Captain, what can I do to help?"

"Nothing at the moment, just try not to bleed and set her off again alright? Oh, and get more of that vile stuff." He hissed at the mage as he tossed the empty bottle aside.

He sat down next to the vampire, keeping one hand at the ready to grab her should she try and take off again. She was clearly going to require some watching, he wasn't about to have her death or some poor peasant family's death on his conscience. He had a code after all. It was morally ambiguous, but he chose to live by it. Innocent people dying wasn't his problem unless it was also technically his fault, which in this case it was. Had he known the whole lot of them were vampires he would have left them the hell alone. But too late now. Dammit.

"So, are you gonna try and run again? Or perhaps we could calm the hell down and think for a second. Where were you trying to get to?"

He would wait patiently for Faylen's answer, beginning to whittle a second stake if it took more than a couple of minutes for her to respond.

Krylancelo spoke up from behind Captain Gothmog. His voice wavered a bit, as if wasn't certain he wanted to be heard and draw attention on to himself.

"We will take you wherever you desire Faylen. What was done to you was unspeakably horid. If Gothmog's contact can assist. It may be wise to seek counsel." The decision lays with you and you alone."

Krylancelo would continue to stand behind the safety of the orc, and await the woman's reply.

He blinked in surprise, if any of his old shipmates saw him now...with a vampiric noblewoman curled up next to him like he was a parent or something. But if it comforted her...eh, there weren't here, and he flashed the mage a look that promised a painful death if he ever spoke of this moment to anyone.

"I am afraid I am not familiar with that area, nor have I heard of that castle. If you can guide us there, I would be willing to go with you to your family."

And if they didn't accept her....well he guessed she could join him on the seas. Sailors and pirates tended to not be very judgemental about such things...particularly if Gothmog beat the judgement out of them.