Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kilian had been angry when he'd gone back over to Erionda. The combination of her having hit him and then being interrupted by the dragon had made his muscles tense. He was about to bend down when she stood up. He was floored. She had hit him not because he had done something wrong but because she had thought he'd been hit by the dragon's flames? Her reasoning confused him and for a minute all he could do was just stand there as she headed down the next tunnel.

"I...don't understand.." He mumbled to Amadia. She snorted in response, not really understanding Erionda's reasoning either. "Lets go..." Kilian said to her as he headed down the tunnel after Erionda. He hoped that they would get a chance to sort this out. Damned those dragons to hell right now. He clenched his fists as he came to the end of the tunnel. He shivered slightly at the drop in temperature in this cavern. "Rio.." He whispered as he looked up and saw her standing in front of an Aiskala dragon. He gripped his daggers, ready to help her with this dragon. Another one he had never encountered before.

Kilian twitched at the information Uassae had imparted to him. So she had lost family to dragons as well. It explained so much. He felt her pain. Knew what she had to be going through. He still didn't really understand why she had smacked him but he didn't care. Uassae's words stung. He'd never hurt her. Kilian would let Erionda stab him through the heart before he raised a hand to her.

The next events happened so quickly that Kilian didn't really have time to react fast enough. His hands closed around the hilts of his daggers. "Rio!" He yelled as he watched the dragon pin her down with it's tail. "NO!" Kilian roared as he ran towards the dragon as he lowered it's head to her. He came to a stop as he flinched at the sound of Erionda's sword breaking through the beast's skull.

Kilian's breath escaped him as the dragon turned to dust. He quickly closed the space between them and kneeled down next to Erionda. He scooped up the orbs and sat them aside. "Rio...hunny..." He reached his hand out and pushed her hair away from her face. "I'm so sorry." He whispered as he ran his thumb over her cheek.

Kilian frowned at Erionda's words as he sat back on his heels. He thought he had broken down her toughest walls. It seemed, however, he still had a bit more to tear down. He ran his hand through his dreads and he watched her open the chest easily enough. Pushing himself up from the ground he walked and met her half way. "Looks like it." He said as he took the offered potion from her. He handed her one of the Aiskala orbs in return.

He wanted so badly to discuss what had just happened. To tell her how he felt. It bubbled up inside him to a breaking point. He gritted his teeth. She'd reject him now, if he did though. So he kept his mouth shut on the subject. Kilian's gaze shifted over to the next tunnel and he let out a sigh.

What lay ahead for them? More bad memories for her? For him? What if they eventually ran into a Diabi dragon. Would he be able to face those horrid memories buried deep inside his brain? His body shivered at the thought. Looking back over at Erionda he frowned. He did hope that he'd have the chance to straighten things about between them. For now, though, they needed to move on. "Lets go." He said gruffly as he stored both the potion and orb in Amadia's pack.

Kilian kept quiet as they made their way through the tunnel, his mind swirling with thoughts of what all had happened since they entered this cave system. He was so lost in thought that he almost ran into Erionda when she stopped. "What's wro..." His words stopped mid sentence as a stench filled his nostrals. He wrinkled his hose and put his hand up to his face. "Oh god, that smells." He mumbled through both the cloth over his mouth and his hands.

He noticed Erionda cringe and start to walk funny. Looking down, the imprint of a boot was left in the dragon droppings. He muffled a laugh as he looked back up at Erionda. Poor thing must have stepped right in it.

His laugh was cut short when he saw the Peisio dragon sneaking up behind a distracted Erionda. "Watch out!" He yelled as he took off running. He pulled Erionda away from where she had been standing just as the dragon's tail came crashing down. Gritting his teeth, he let go of her arm and pulled his daggers out of their sheaths. He brought one of them down, stabbing into the beasts tail and into the ground as well. The dragon tugged at his tail but was unable to move, having been pinned by Kilian's dagger. With the other dagger gripped tightly in his hand he quickly moved to slice into the dragon's neck.

The dragon had other plans, however. With a loud growl it finally was able to rip it's tail up from the ground, sending blood gushing and Kilian's dagger to the ground. Just as Kilian was about to land a blow, the dragon swung it's head forecfully towards him. "s**t." He muttered as he brought his arms up to guard from the sharp teeth. The dragon's head collided with Kilian's arms and he was thrown back. He hit the wall hard and his breath shot out of him. Groaning, Kilian used the wall to support himself as he tried to catch his breath.

The dragon didn't give him much time to recover. In no time it was back on the attack, running straight for him, it's teeth bared. At the last moment, Kilian raised his arm, not holding his dagger, up. The dragon closed it's mouth around his arm. The leather around his arms did little to protect him from the dragon's sharp teeth. He let out a curse loud enough to fill the cavern and echo off the walls. Gritting his teeth against the pain he brought his dagger up and stabbed the beast through it's chin. At the last moment, the Aiskala's eyes widened as if it couldn't believe it had been defeated and then burst into dust. Blood leaked out of the wounds on Kilian's arm as he fell to his hands and knees. He grimaced as he went to move his arm. "Well s**t." He mumbled quitely as he fell back to sit on his butt as he dropped his dagger to the ground and wrapped his hand around the wounded arm, trying to stop the bleeding as best he could.

Kilian's teeth were gritted against the pain and his breathing was labored. Stupid. It had been so stupid of him to protect with his arm. He cursed himself mentally as Amadia came over, ducking her head and whining as she laid next to Kilian. The blood had been pounding in his ears as he had fought the dragon and he had just barely heard his name screamed.

After the dragon had turned to dust, his mind had went blank for a bit. So when Erionda said his name he jumped a bit. Kilian looked up and tensed as her fingers came closer to touching his arm. Why wouldn't she touch him? He bit back a groan at the frustration and shook his head as he tried to stand up, only to fall back down when the room began to spin. "I-I'll be fine. Just give me a second." Amadia whimpered as she shared his pain.

His gaze flicked back to the tunnel that lead closer to the entrance and he nodded. "Lets go then." Kilian said as he used the wall to help himself up. The woozy feeling has slowly gone away and he was now able to stand relatively well on his own. "We've got to get that awful smell off of your boot anyway." He said, trying to lighten the mood by teasing her.

Kilian sucked in a breath as he went to move his arm. The pain that shot up his arm and through his body was enough to almost cause him to go back down to his knees. "That was a stupid idea, wasn't it?" He asked of Erionda as they started down the tunnel, his uninjured hand running against the wall in case he needed to catch himself.

Kilian's pride prevented him from asking Erionda for help. He was stronger than this. He could support himself. He didn't want her to think him weak. He gritted his teeth as they stepped into the cavern. His eyes fell to the dragon sleeping in the middle of the area. He went to grab one of his daggers with his uninjured hand but caught nothing but air. "s**t." He mumbled as he realized he'd forgotten to pick up his daggers from the other room.

His gaze shot up as Erionda shot out after the Peisio, making quick work with it. By the time she made her way back over to him, he was leaning against the wall, supporting himself. He smiled at her lazily. "That a girl." Kilian pushed himself away from the wall and swayed a bit. He moved a couple of steps forward and his head swam. "Damn these wounds." He said as he stumbled forward and started to fall to his knees.

Kilian's legs were weak. Not sure if it was from the blood loss or not, his mind seemed foggy. He grunted as Erionda caught him. Her cool skin felt like a soothing balm against his burning skin. He let out a sigh as his weight shifted slightly over to her. Damned be his pride. He didn't care right now. He reveled in the fact that she was touching him. Even liked being helped.

They made their way through the tunnel as quickly as they could. He knew his weight was a lot for her to handle and his height didn't help much. Kilian tried to support himself more, trying to take the burden off of her. He let out growl as his eyes fell on the next dragon. Damn it if he didn't hate being weak like this. He leaned against the wall as he watched Erionda dispatch it with a quickness that surprised even him.

Amadia nudged Kilian's leg and he looked down. "Ah." He mumbled as he saw what she was carrying in her mouth. "Did you carry those all the way here?" He asked as he bent down and retrieved his daggers from out of his drakein's mouth. "Thank you.." He mumbled as he stuck one into it's sheath and kept hold of the other. Amadia growled and nodded her head. The pain Kilian was feeling had shot through her as well and she realized that fear also branched off from that as well. Without his weapons, Kilan had felt defenseless. So Amadia had done that only thing she'd known to do; carried them with her.

Kilian gritted his teeth against the pain every move of his arm caused. He wouldn't scream out. Couldn't. Not in front of Erionda. He watched her carefully as her fingers lightly played over his skin as she cleaned the wounds. Each time she touched him it sent a jolt up his body that was much more pleasant than the pain from the wounds.

"Erionda..." Her name came out on a whisper, his voice hoarse from so much more than just the loss of blood. Kilian watched her finish cleaning his armor and winced as he tried to move. He cursed to himself and forced himself to move the little bit of distance towards her.

Kilian reached out his uninjured hand and wrapped his fingers around Erionda's wrist, stopping her movements. "Erionda...why did you keep apologizing?" He aksed her as he let go of her wrist and took his armor from her. "You're helping me." He said again as he frowned and tilted his head. "You've nothing to apologize for."

Kilian moved his hand up to her face and paused, as if giving her time to pull back. He moved his fingers closer and brushed the hair away from her face, running his thumb over her cheek.