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Message: <blockquote data-quote="daindarkspring" data-source="post: 7379855" data-attributes="member: 6939181">Dain - The MereThere was a place, nestled at the bottom of a craggy mountain, where a timeless spring bubbled up into a wide and deep pool of still dark water. A blanket of algae floated on its surface, moving about as if by its own whim, forever shading half of the pool beneath its impenetrable mantle. Above it, ancient and twisted branches from massive trees reached upwards and and down, forming a labyrinth of living wood. At the far end of the mere, tucked into the mountain and barely visible, was an entrance to a cave. Overhung with moss and massive ferns, it beckoned only to those who might be searching for a goddess who would call such a place home.And so it beckoned to Dain. He stood staring at it from across the pool of water, listening to ravens caw and to frogs croaking. Somewhere above him the sun was still shining, but its rays were nothing more than shadows in this place. Taking a small mushroom from a pouch at his side, he put it between his lips and bit down slowly, taking it in and beginning to chew it purposefully. Essithea. I depart in the morning on a new purpose. Perhaps to remember. Perhaps to die. Will you show me yet some sliver of providence? Some tiny shred of hope?Stripping off his jerkin, and then his boots and clothes, he laid them aside along with his sword and stood naked at the edge of the water. His bare feet sunk into dead leaves and rotting wood, the warmth of things dying and giving life rushed over his skin.The algae on the water seemed to quiver, and a series of ripples spread out from the cave entrance. A raven, massive and menacing, sped down over the water with its wings outspread. Only at the last second did it rise up, narrowly missing Dain's face. He recoiled, his breath coming out in a gasp. Beneath the water, he thought he saw her. Pale skin. Dark eyes. Drawing him in. *Follow me. Find me. Know me.* The voice made him shake.He took a step forward, and then another, descending into the black water. Symbols and sigils seemed to come alive on the surface, sparkling and glinting as they spun and twirled. Again, he saw her pale body, beneath the surface, her hair like flowing onyx as it was carried this way and then that way by the current, always just hiding what he longed to see. Soon he was up to his neck, and then the water trickled into his mouth. With a mighty stroke, he gave himself to the water and to Essithea, gliding half-submerged towards the cave entrance.Towards her.His head sunk beneath the water, and he saw nothing but her eyes. When his lungs began to burn, he somehow breached the surface and gasped for air. He had reached the other side. The cave was before him. He collapsed out of the water, amid the ferns and the moss, laying there on his back with chest heaving for air. She was above him now, her hair trailing across his body as it dangled down from around a face that was so beautiful in its life and in its death that he could utter no words. Her eyes. Her lips. She slid away from him, despite his protests, and slowly began to descend into the cave, her perfect pale feet barely touching the slick rocks. Turning her head, she addressed him a final time.*Will you bleed for me?*Dain awoke with a start some time later. He was lying near his pile of clothes, shaking with cold and dampness. He could not bear to look at the cave entrance as he slowly got dressed and made his way back towards Kalair.</blockquote>

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