Hellacious Bond - The River Aftermath (Kavel & Sorrel)

Written with the amazing stephena


How Are You Doing Sister?

Cut open on several locations of his body;heat flickering off him. Burn marks on his upper arms and face; still smoking. But, it was over. The Goliath and his comrades had all survived their journey to Phlegethos, and carried out the mission successfully. They did not bring back the High Diviner Rholor in his body, but his essence trapped in an orb was retrieved, and so, nevertheless, mission achieved.

But, as the Goliath looked around at his comrades he wasn’t sure he saw the relief he expected to see from people who escaped Hell’s torturous humidity and dark skies, and arrived safely back home. Everyone must have been glad to be breathing clear, and temperate air, but they all seemed distracted by grief.

For the civilians of Daring Heights, the Goliath supposed it wasn’t an unfamiliar sight to see adventurers fresh from battle exit the portal at Portal Plaza. This would normally explain the civilian indifference to the sight before them. However, there was a weightier reason why the adventurers were being ignored. A council member explained to the returning adventurers about the approaching attack from the flying Gityanki controlled Gandenthor.

The adventurers had exited Hell to face on-coming dragons. This team of adventurers well and truly have come out of the fire, only to land in the frying pan. Payment for rescuing Rholor did not seem to go far in lifting everyone’s spirits. Kavel felt he almost had to put the gold in several of his companions' purses to make sure they took their share.

There they all stood, in the centre of Portal Plaza. Kavel stepped back a little to get all of his comrades in view, and just watched them one by one, as they locked themselves up deep within their own minds. All of them standing apart from each other. Comradery was absent, and this concerned Kavel.

Silvia was the first to walk off. No word said to anyone. It looked to Kavel that she was returning home.

The Jackal, or as Velania explained to us, Je’Sathriel, a lost angel, departed next. Khaos vanished at the same time. Velania herself then left soon after. But, not before hugging Kavel, who found himself to have acquired another sister from the temple of Selune. Kavel wished her well, as she said a few words to Sorrel, and then respectively left the others alone.

The others themselves, Marto and Zola had broken away from solitary to share an embrace. “Good,” Kavel thought. “Comrades support comrades.” The Goliath, now with a little less concern for Marto and Zola, moved to his sister, Sorrel’s side and stood silently by her.

Not before long, Kaval saw Marto and Zola as they each went their separate ways, and he turned his head towards Sorrel and looked at her face. For someone like his sister, who was so highly battle perceptive, Kavel did not have much confidence that she was aware he was standing right next to her. Wherever Sorrel was in her mind, she had not left that spot.

If Sorrel couldn’t acknowledge his hand on her shoulder, Kavel thought, maybe she’ll notice the smoke still smouldering off of his knuckles. Kavel placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder.

“Sorrel… it’s not Marto with his smouldering armour. He’s not flying, or gotten taller; it’s me, Kavel.” At the very least, the Goliath made himself laugh. He then stepped behind Sorrel, clapped her shoulders with his hands, and then wrapped his sister up around her shoulders, and lightly rested his chin on her head.
“Hey. We did it. The mission was a success… So why are you lost in thought?”


The Proposal

Sorrel turned and buried her face in Kavel's smoke scented jacket and stayed there in silence for a few minutes, just breathing the hint of goliath mixing with the last traces of the abyss. Eventually she pulled away and smiled up at him.

"I'm not sure - it's strange..." she said carefully. "Part of it is stupid. I was put on a job a year ago - Protect the yada yada - and it's kind of over but it's kind of not. I mean, obviously on the upside a significant part of him is not currently being tortured in Hell. Win. On the downside, he's currently entirely contained in an orb that's vanished in the hands of a very grumpy character who, it turns out, is a fallen angel made good. So I'm trying to figure out if that's job done or..."

She scratched her chin. "I'm used to clearer endgames. The client is dead. The client is alive. Binary. This is so non-binary."

"Also... I mean, Hell. What I most dearly love about you brother is that you approached Hell just as you approached the Feythorn. Get to the high ground, plan the route, beat the crap out of devils and elementals, rescue Silvia... It was so reassuring whilst I tried to figure out how to stop Rholor's soul draining away to see you right cross and uppercut the Balrog. Hard to explain why."

She stared off into the distance. "But Hell always slightly freaks me out. I mean, inter-dimensionality is so puzzling. I was once stored in a non-existent plane for a couple of minutes and it was... strange. So I guess some form of decompression after going toe to toe with the forces of Evil on their home turf is to be expected."

She turned back to face him. "And finally something profound happened when the goddess hired me - hired loosely speaking - and has assisted us throughout. I can feel her in a way I didn't expect. It's like some sort of purpose beyond drinking, fighting and fucking girls. Funny business. Seeping into the soul, I guess. I'll probably end up getting a bit churchy for a while. Plus, hi, we're back from Hell. 'Great news, could you fight these dragons?' Sure, no problem, I'll get a bite to eat. Am I making any sense?"

“Yes. You are making sense,” Kavel tried to reassure Sorrel as he held her. “But, don’t worry about the Githyanki right now. We still have time, and can spare some of that time to heal and get our heads clear for fending off an invasion. Invasion preparations for us is on next week’s agenda. Right now? We relax to let our bodies rest, and relax to let our brains make sense of what we’ve been through without further stress. Oh and part of our physical rest, maybe you could have predicted this, will include light club training, and steak!” Kavel put one of his calloused and now slightly cooled down hands on Sorrel’s head, and shook it a little, “I think maybe you can do some medium to heavy club drills actually, on account of you not using your bow much, and on one of the times you used it you loosed an arrow at me.” Kavel smiled at his joke.

Sorrel's face crumples around her sad smile. "I will never forget the awful feeling of that arrow..." she pauses, steps back, takes Kavel's hands in hers. She looks at them for a second. It's either the power of the tattoos or his kettlebell devotion but his hands seem larger and her fingers barely wrap around his. Her eyes meet his and she draws a deep breath. "You saved my life when I was possessed down there. You saved Silvia's life. When we were at the edge of exhaustion you were undaunted. The third worst day of my life was when I lost a team to fiends... including someone I cared for very much... I know it wasn't just for me that you risked your soul, but without you I would have lost mine and someone else I care for very much. There are no thanks or gifts great enough."

She takes her hands from his. "At the House, there is a ritual of bonding - the sharing of the blood. It connects two warriors until death and means they will always answer the other's call. I cut my forearm and you cut yours and our blood mingles," she is suddenly shy. "It is almost never done. It is a big thing. I don't want to annoy or embarrass you. No-one from the House is allowed to bond with more than one blood brother. I would like, if I do this with anyone, to do this with you."

She turns away, a little scared of his answer, and reaches in her pocket. "And, less dramatically, I have this," she pulls a small white rock from her pocket. It is a little large for her hand but it would just about vanish in Kavels. "It looks really pretty in the moonlight, and it would sit nicely in your fingers and it has a little groove for rubbing a thumb against and thinking of... of a sister..."

Kavel looked from Sorrel’s eyes to the small rock in her hand, and picked up the rock with his fingers. Kavel then placed the rock in the palm of one hand, and put the other hand’s thumb where Sorrel indicated, and looked back at her face, “so… I rub this spot here and then I think of you, my sister, yes? And do you need a ceremonial blade?”


Proposal Accepted

Sorrel's eye light up like the sun at midnight. "N-no, no you don't, you need a blade from a battle you fought in together," she laughed with delight. "Really? Because I have my rapier right here. Really?"

“Your rapier? Oh so that means we can do it now? I would roll up my sleeves, but they are already bare, ha!” Kavel slapped Sorrel’s shoulder, “hey. We already come to each other’s aid. You helped me with my Iron Strong bros when I needed a tracker, I helped you with Hell. Marking our bond with a ritual sounds good to me. I think it makes our relationship as chosen kin stronger, and I like that.”

Sorrel beamed as she drew her sword and offered the hilt to Kavel with her right hand whilst bearing her left. “It’s a toothpick to you brother but it’s sharp” she laughed again. “You make the first cut, I make the second, we clasp hands and say just this - ‘if you need me, call me and if my soul can hear you I will travel to your aid, til death and beyond’.”

Taking the blade in his right hand, Kavel made a cut on his left forearm where Sorrel indicated, and passed the rapier back to its owner, “okay. You now.”

Sorrel sliced into her skin and was surprised to find she barely winced. Blood trickled from the wound, but she took a few seconds to clean her blade before clasping - in a very loose sense, much as a squirrel might clasp a tree - Kavel’s forearm so that their blood mingled.
She looked him in the eye and said firmly - “if you need me, call me and if my soul can hear you I will travel to your aid, til death and beyond’.”

Kavel nodded, and repeated the words Sorrel said to him, “if you need me, call me and if my soul can hear you I will travel to your aid, til death and beyond’.”

Sorrel stepped back and smiled like a happy child. “There we are, my brother. If either of us falls in love and gets married that will be a light hearted bond compared to the pact we have formed. Since the House explained the bond to my unit, I had assumed it was a token. When I saw you striding across Hell with Silvia in your arms I realised for the first time what they meant. I hope I get the chance to offer you the same service - and the grave will not be enough to stop me.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out an obsidian stone with a strange rune carved on it. “This is a Life Debt Token. It is something rarely given by the House but anyone carrying one can call on the services of the House at any time. It will cost nothing. On your white stone, brother, the same rune is carved. If you ever require the services of a highly skilled team of assassins, or close quarters protection, or perhaps an infiltration squad, or maybe… actually it’s a very long list. In short, if you can’t find me and you need back up in any moderately sized city try the pawn shop nearest the docks and chances are they’ll get word to a Unit or two. Mr Mace, I know, has such connections. Which must be why I enjoy his shop so much.”

“Thank you for both my stones sister. These are very nice. I will treasure them. Especially the white one.” Kavel wrapped both stones up neatly in a handkerchief he kept in his breast pocket, and then put the handkerchief away with care. Once done, Kavel looked at Sorrel, “in our line of business, Sorrel, chances are you will be offering the same service back at some point. And I hope Silvia is alright. Do you want to go back home to talk to her, or is now a good time for me to call in that steak you owe me?”

Sorrel thinks for a moment. “Silvia doesn’t like to be crowded and I think there’s more going on with her than you or I can guess,” she decided eventually. “You can go any time and talk to her - but there’s only one time in your life you become my blood brother. So steak. Bloody. A touch of mustard. And a red wine from a sandy river valley that’s so dry the tannins tear the fat from the meat and cuddle it all the way down. All on me.”

“All on you? That reminds me,” Kavel handed Sorrel her 200gp for completing the mission, “you’ll need this, and I’m in.”