Visiting the Folks

The world is gray, black, and the air is damp. Chill permeates everything. It's the sort of day for spending time indoors, but at least it's not snowing. Instead everything in sight - which isn't much given the darkness that has enveloped the early-morning world - is covered in the white stuff turned gray by the lack of light. Outside of Alexandria, just beyond the city limits the guardsmen stir restlessly. Trying to stay warm without much hope. Even the torches on their sconces can't do much for the cold. Indeed, the guardsmen themselves are being replaced often from those inside the guard tower to prevent frostbite.

Multiple layers is the order of the day, but Dolan is determined to make this journey. Warm clothing, cloak, hat, gloves accompany armor, weapons, and pack on his person as he approaches the gate. He is quiet, serious, all business, but his shoulders are straight, his scarf firmly wrapped over the bandage around his neck.

"I owe you one for this, Tel," he is saying. "Both of you, really. I'm just worried."

Meanwhile, Telamon is wrapped in a heavy fur cape with a hood, over a white wool tunic striped at the cuffs with deep blue. His leather trousers are tucked into his usual boots, neatly polished, and his haversack is slung on his shoulder. The man just can't help but try to be a fashion plate. Still, his expression isn't quite as ebuillient as it usually is, and he nods gently to Dolan.

"You were there for me, Dolan. I think returning the favor is the least I can do." He rubs his fingers together, before putting on a pair of rabbit-fur mittens. "I'll take these off when I need to cast, but no point in letting the cold get to me."

Andelena is off to the side of Dolan, wearing her own full suit of plate armor and cold weather gear besides that. Deliverance is holstered on her back for ease of access, as per usual. She wears a pack as well, although it looks identical to Dolan's to the point where one can almost certainly guess that the Redeemer did a bit more than 'help' her pack. She offers Dolan a warm smile as she gently claps his shoulder.

"Course I was gonna come with you, Bry," she says. "Never met your folks, but... They might be the only chance I have of having a family I have left. Aside from, y'know, adopting a boatload of orphans and maybe having a tyke or two of our own."

Then she eyes Telamon, a brow raised. "Knight's light, man, do they /pay/ you to look like that? We're going on a journey, not a mobile beauty pageant."

For the first time, something resembling Dolan's cheeky grin resurfaces on the mobile side of his face. He keeps walking, approaching the gate at an easy pace. "Andie, you steal my trousers and then give someone else shit about their style?" he laughs easily. "Mind you," he holds up a be-gloved hand. "I prefer you out of the trousers."

Telamon's eyes twinkle. "Ah, but Andelena, people don't see 'powerful mage' right now. They see 'bored noble dilettante'. Camouflage, in other words -- until I begin to cast." He shrugs lightly. "I did pack some of my more subdued garments. Quite stylish in themselves, but they're obviously working garb."

At Dolan's sally, he grins. "Oh, she does that too? Lana has started wearing my tunics on occasion. I find I don't mind too much. She looks even better in them than I do."

Andelena snorts. "I just like giving Telamon shit," she explains as she follows Dolan. "Have since the day I met him. Thought he was some jumped up nobleman's brat at first, but boy was I fucking wrong."

But she does grin right after. "Look, Bry, when your ass looks as cute in your trousers as it does and I see that, do you /blame/ me for wanting to try them on to see if it does the same kind of magic? See, Tel's wife even does it. Just part of being a committed man. Your lover just steals your shit. Now, how far out are we going before we do this whole..." She vaguely pantomimes teleporting by waving a finger around on each hand in a manner that suggests popping in and out of two separate places.

Dolan snorts laughter at that, and pulls his cloak tight. "How far do we need to go to get outside the wards, Tel? Can't say as I've ever teleported before." The laughter morphs back into that cheeky grin. "Yours is better." As if to demonstrate, one gloved hand reaches over to try to pinch the keister of which he speaks.

"The outer watchtowers. I generally like getting a little distance. That's why when Lana and I came back from Ylvaliel, I aimed for that." Telamon pauses, looking thoughtful. "I need to talk to the wizards handling the ward. I've been meaning to ask them some questions, but I haven't had the time or opportunity." As the trio approach the nearest watchtower, on the edge of what could be considered Alexandria's environs, Telamon removes his mittens, letting them dangle from his wrists.

Of course, a loud peal of laughter comes from Andelena as Dolan goes for her keister. "Don't make me go for yours when we've got polite company, Bry," she threatens, although she is absolutely still laughing as she says this. It's a nice contrast to the world of wintry gray and cold.

She eventually turns her attention to Telamon. "Alright, okay," she says. "That makes sense. Bry and I are as far from... y'know, arcane spellslingers as you can get, so you're the expert here."

A derisive snort is Dolan's first response, but it fades as a thought comes to him, and he turns to Telamon. "Sorry. We're a handful sometimes. I'll keep my hands to myself while we're out." The grin is almost completely gone, fading into a businesslike resolution. "It's your show until the other end of the teleport, and I'll take over from there."

Once they've passed the outer marker, Telamon comes to a stop. "Alright, this is far enough." He beckons for Andelena and Dolan to stand close. "I'm going to try and get as close as I can, Dolan. In the meantime, just remember to keep your arms and legs inside the wagon until it's come to a full and complete stop." He touches Dolan's shoulder, then Andelena's, and he chants, "Kaskal, nu siten, ula'ulla." His voice takes on a strange reverb, the air around him sizzling with arcane power. And then a sphere of light surrounds the trio, and they vanish.

GAME: Telamon casts Teleport. Caster Level: 12 DC: 22
GAME: Telamon rolls 1d100: (82): 82

The swirling vortex of magic transports the group to a road beside a wide open field. It's hard to tell where you are, but it's certainly not in front of a house. In fact there's no sign of a house at all. Just a slender wagon road and a wider road that might be able to support two wagons on it if they're both real comfy with one another. The snow is deeper here than it was close to the city, and no one's been out to shovel it off the road. Which means you're standing in it.

Andelena... Has to stop herself from losing the contents of her stomach, only barely holding on. "Fuck, that was awful," she mutters, before she snatches a waterskin from her belt and chugs a little, just to chase the sensation and the taste in the throat away.

"Bry, how... far out are we? Nevermind, dumb fucking question, /I/ can't see shit," Andelena says as she finally gets a bead on what the surrounding environment looks like.

It takes Dolan a couple of minutes to shake the disorientation, although the change in weather and sharp, cold, damp air is certainly an attention-getter. He spends just a minute looking around, a different, warm smile growing across both sides of his face. "If I'm right - we're less than a mark's walk to the house. I know this place. This way." He gestures up the wagon-tracked road, and turns to pick his way through the snow.

Something in the set of his shoulders tenses, though, and he keeps a sharp eye out, looking around.

Telamon exhales a bit, pulling the mittens back on. "Sorry, this... I vaguely remembered this crossroads back when I first traveled to Alexandria. I tossed us as close as possible, but I didn't want to foul the casting and plant us somewhere entirely -wrong-." He shudders a bit. "As is, that was a little trickier than I like."

Once Tel's composed himself, he falls into stride, speaking softly and cheerfully. "It could be worse. I could've teleported us 'home' -- there's a part of me that still thinks of Ylvaliel as home, after all. Mother would be most annoyed."

GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (15)+13: 28
GAME: Andelena rolls Perception: (6)+10: 16
GAME: Dolan rolls perception: (2)+13: 15
GAME: Telamon casts Message. Caster Level: 12 DC: 17

Andelena puts her waterskin away. "I'm sure Madame... Atlon? Yeah, Madame Atlon is nice and all, but I would have been a bit pissed." Her eyes narrow as she looks around, scanning the horizon as much as she can despite the poor visibility.

"Alright," she says, and she follows Dolan's lead, finding no fault with his direction--and truthfully, not one to tell Dolan that he doesn't know his home from a rock in the road.

Dolan's mind is clearly elsewhere, focused on finding his way despite the poor visibility. He pulls the cloak more tightly around him. He stares off down the road, searching, seemingly unaware of Telamon's near-miss. "No, you got it. Any closer and we could have ended up in the pasture or one of the fields."

He snorts, not entirely amused, at the mention of Telamon's mother. "We did it once, and she wasn't any too pleased. If we did it again Telamon might just get a - get punished," he quickly corrects himself. "They'll be awake at this hour, they're probably just finishing up morning chores."

Telamon folds his robe around him a little more closely, his hood up. "No, I'm pretty sure mother would paddle me." He smiles, but his dark, starry eyes keep moving around cautiously. "She wasn't -really- mad though, Dolan. She could tell we'd just been in a bit of hassle. But she never, ever lets me get too big for my breeches." A soft chuckle. "I'm sure she passed along some useful information in that regard to Lana as well."

It doesn't take that long to traverse the distance between the road and the house that does indeed lay at the end of it. The house is comfortably sized, and in the distance you catch sight of someone waving as they head inside. Several long moments after that you actually reach the doorstep and the door itself opens revealing what is obviously, or at least hopefully, Dolan's father.

He blinks twice at the sight of the group of you, his eyes landing on Dolan firstly and it's as if he doesn't recognize his son for several long seconds. Then he moves onto Andelena and Telamon and confusion grows there. "Brydion?"

"It's me, Papa," Dolan says at once, his grin broadening into something very different from his usual cheek. It's something soft and warm. "Sorry I haven't written, things got a little hairy for a while." He offers an arm for a handclasp, and hopefully a hug. "Need a hand with the chores?" He looks back at the two with him. "This is my fiancee Andelena, and my friend Telamon. He got us here - a little faster." That's accompanied by a wink.

Andelena looks up at the man that's greeted them, and... She looks conflicted for a moment, about exactly what emotion to wear on her face. Finally, she just settles on a wide smile... And she nods.

She steps up with Dolan. "Andelena of Selentia--Sunguard of Daeus," she says politely. This is a different way of speaking than she normally uses to talk to people--only Dolan's heard this before. It's not overly polished, but it is something that would be passable in 'fine company'. "I've heard a lot about you from Bry. It is truly a pleasure."

Telamon is just behind, as he doffs his mittens before reaching up to draw his hood back. "Master Donnelly," Tel says in a polished but warm tone. "Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon, at your service." With his platinum blond hair and elven features, he contrasts so sharply with Andie and Dolan it's funny. But his smile is congenial, no condescension or distaste for his surroundings.

The man takes Dolan's arm a bit reluctantly. He looks increasingly confused. "Your fiance?" He asks, sounding like he doesn't really believe Dolan. "She was just here not a few weeks past! Stayed in our room she did."

He looks at the woman beside Dolan a bit more suspiciously. "Your mother's ivory-handled brush was missing when she left."

Dolan's father turns, calling back into the house. "Honey! Brydion is here! You'll never believe who he brought!" There's the sound of scuffling and motion from further into the house and realizing that he's blocking the door the man steps backwards. "Right. Come in, come in. It's cold as it can be out there."

Dolan freezes cold, the man almost visibly sharpening into the inquisitor. "Papa," he asks suddenly. It's a shift in his stance, the set of his shoulders. The look on his face. Gone is the relaxation and even relief that he'd worn when they walked up here. Now, once again, he is all business. "We were here before? Did I have this last time?" He gestures to the gem replacing his right eye, and when Master Donnelly turns his back to the group, he reaches for the stylized dragon around his neck. "Holy Knight, show me the presence of Your enemies," he murmurs.

Once that is done, the symbol goes back inside the armor, and he sheds his boots into the tray at the side of the door.

Andelena... looks taken aback. "Couldn't have been me, sir," she replies. "I don't drop by people's houses with no notice. And I sure--" She catches herself before it's far too late. "I surely do not steal people's belongings. Especially nothing that would belong to Bry's mother."

She looks wary as can be, and a little upset by the accusation, too. But aside from a fist that she clenches and unclenches, she doesn't show her upset openly, and follows Bry's cues for hospitality.

Telamon clears his throat. "Dolan -- Brydion -- makes a good point." He turns on that weapons-grade charm again. "But, on the upshot, we are here, and I for one enjoy unraveling a mystery." His eyes narrow slightly as he contemplates the theft of a hairbrush. "Interesting, though. Perhaps when we've settled in, you can tell us about how this person came here? I believe you, but sadly there are people in this day and age who enjoy fooling others."

Master Donnelly turns back toward Dolan. "No, you weren't here son. Wouldn't you remember if you were? It was just her. No elf either." He nods to Telamon politely. "You sure it weren't you girl? It could have been your twin I swear."

He looks mildly uncomfortable with this line of questioning, and then grateful as a woman enters the room. She brightens immensely at the sight of Dolan, making a beeline for him and wrapping him up in a hug before he can think to stop her or do anything more. "Brydion. It's so good to see you. Did you put on some muscle?" She grins at him and brushes some of the hair back from his face. She doesn't even seem to notice his scars much less the eye.

"She came down the road in a fancy little wagon that broke down at the end of the road. Had to hike it to the house and she seemed pretty upset to have to do it. Asked if she could stay until it could be fixed. Honey, doesn't that girl look like the one that came by the house?" Dolan’s father says.

Noticing the other two at last, Dolan's mother pulls away from him and smiles at his guests. "You brought- Oh! You're right dear. She looks just like that woman that came by a couple weeks past. Same red hair; you don't forget hair that color!"

"Yes, Mama. I switched to the bigger sword, it just takes more work." Brydion returns the hug, fully and willingly and with a smile. "It's so good to see you. Sorry I haven't written - things got a little hairy there for a while, and for a while I wasn't sure if you'd evacuated. This is Andelena," he nods at the red-headed woman, "and Telamon," he adds with a jerk of the chin in Telamon's sort-of direction.

Despite warm hugs, the inquisitor is still very much leading, judging by the final look he casts the front door. "So Mama, tell us what happened. Andie's been with me in Alexandria, we're living together, but someone's been impersonating me. Taking on my looks. And if what the Sunlord tells me is right, they aren't far away." There's a sharp warning tone in the last words. "I'll be finding your hairbrush, and I'll apply it to the bottom of whoever stole it."

"I know someone with my hair color," Andelena says, looking even more wary than before. "My mother. But she's got blue eyes and... y'know, a bit wrinkly. Not that you'd know, ma'am." It's a slight complimentary joke that you'd pay your mother-in-law-to-be, but... The edge is still there in her face. Something is /wrong/.

Her eyes go to Dolan, eyes widening in surprise. But she chooses not to question him about it. Dolan needs the upper hand here, the control of the room. "And I know my mother. She'd take whatever she wanted if she could pass it off onto someone else. A servant, most of the time. Me, when she was in a really bad mood."

Telamon's expression grows dour. "Some people need better hobbies," he remarks. But he turns the charm on again, as mercurial as his fey wife to surface appearances, smiling at Dolan's mother. "A pleasure to meet you. Your son has been a good friend to me, and I'm more than happy to help him in turn." He glances at Dolan, letting him take point on this, though his brow furrows a little at the idea of Andelena's mother causing this kind of trouble.

Dolan's mother nods politely to Telamon and then to Andelena. "So nice to meet friends of Brydion's!" She seems utterly honest about this, and motions deeper into the house. "I was just about to serve breakfast. Why don't you all come in and eat?" She steps back and then blinks at Andelena and smiles. "That's it! That's what's been bothering me! She had blue eyes! Or more blue than yours dear. Though she was about your age from what I could tell. Come on. You can sit next to me."

There's something more purposeful in her gaze as she looks at Andelena, and her husband starts to say something but she elbows him. "Not until everyone's settled at the table. We can discuss hair brushes and imposters while we eat."

Now that is an interesting development. Dolan's still-mobile eyebrow lifts, along with the eyebrow ridge on the other side, and he turns to Andelena, but like her, he just nods. Time to talk about this later. "Thank you, Mama. I'd love some. I'm going to go wash up, it was a bit of a walk." He removes the harness holding his sword, then cloak, hat, and gloves, and unbuckles the breastplate, leaving both and his pack by the door. He then casts a significant look back to Andelena and Telamon.

When that chore is taken care of, he re-emerges, pulling down his sleeves, and turns to await the others. "Have you two been okay?" he asks, quietly.

Andelena is a Sunguard. She has trained for many types of combat. She's dealt with all manner of odd situations and tangoed with some dangerous enemies. Surely facing down the fiends of the hells has prepared her for this.

Right?

No, there's still the tiniest twinge of hesitation of fear in her eyes, but she smiles anyway. "Yes ma'am, it would be a pleasure," she says, following Bry as he goes to wash up. Her armor is exchanged for more polite and proper table attire, although it's still a far cry from the dresses she wore growing up to attend midmorning luncheons and afternoon teatimes.

"I'm not liking the look of this, at all," she tells Dolan as they get a quiet moment. "Your parents, are... Do they /see/ okay? Or are they being... magically compelled to see in certain ways? Tel, can you tell at all?"

Telamon takes the opportunity to hang up his fur cloak and mittens, before removing his boots as well and setting them on the rack next to Dolan's. Once that's done, he follows along behind Dolan and Andie, as cheerful as a puppy.

At least that's how it -looks-.

The first thing Telamon does is mumble a quick cantrip at Andie's request, and starting to examine the environs. "Well, it does seem a little odd, Andie. I do have that scroll of truesight, though. One step at a time.”

GAME: Telamon casts Detect Magic. Caster Level: 12 DC: 17

Dolan's father shifts to stand more on Dolan's side, looking at his son seriously. "We've been fine really son. How have you been? You know... you can always come back to the farm right?" His eyes flicker to Dolan's eye, looking but not quite looking at Dolan's scars and his prosthetic gem. "We could always use a hand here, you know that, and-"

His mother cuts in and elbows her husband a second time, her gaze more gentle and far less probing than her husbands. "That's enough of that. Though if you and your friend wouldn't mind helping your father with the fire wood while me and Andelena clean up from the meal that would be appreciated." She smiles meaningfully.

The table is set with a hearty meal. Most of it consists of hearty oatmeal and freshly baked biscuits. However as if she'd known that there would be guests there are some sausages and even some fruit though it's clearly left over from earlier harvest. There's plenty for everyone.

GAME: Telamon rolls detectbs: aliased to sense motive+3: (18)+20+3: 41

"Papa, I've got a job to do. Yeah, stuff happened, but that just makes what I'm doing even more important." Dolan adds a grin to that, but the refusal is clear. The stare is not unnoticed, but beyond a swallow, he drops it immediately to instead turn to his mother, and settle down at the table. "Of course, Mama. I'll take care of it. I could use the exercise, and I haven't forgotten how. Tel, I'll teach you. All you need to do is hand me logs, and I'll do the splitting."

He waits until that quiet moment to nod, swiftly and quietly, Andelena. "No evil inside, but there sure as dawn is outside. Something's off."

"Be more than happy to help clean up, ma'am," Andelena answers cheerfully. "I don't mind doing my fair share, too." Granted, Andelena's muscular frame is likely evident proof that she'd probably make a better firewood splitter than Telamon... But there's no overruling Bry's mother. Daeus may be Andelena's god, but Bry's mother is the final word of this household.

When the meal's served, she follow Bry's direction for proper table manners, taking that seat next to Bry's mother as commanded. Obviously, there's what she learned as a daughter of the nobility, but that doesn't necessarily fly out here in the farmhouse. And... there's that edge of caution the whole time, too.

Telamon sits down with the rest of the family. Under his robe there was the tunic, but tossed over that is an interesting sleeveless over-robe, embroidered with geometric symbols. And it's here that the diplomat's son comes out. His voice actually shifts cadence slightly, falling much more into line with Dolan's and his father's. He seems completely at ease, smiling, being wryly witty without ever being offensive.

But Andelena will realize that Telamon's apparently pointless gesture and tapping on the table to punctuate a story is a message in itself: 'Be alert. We are being watched.'

Breakfast is well-served and everyone sits down to enjoy it. It's not until everyone has served themselves and taken at least a few bites before Dolan's mother finally speaks up. Most of the discussion at first is her getting to know Andelena. She lets the men talk about what they will, and thus Telamon gets a chance to tell his story. So does Dolan's father, who explains in a bit more detail about the woman that had come for a visit. They themselves haven't left the farm in better than a month due to the weather and the needs of the farm.

The meal concludes and Andelena helps Dolan's mother clear the table while Dolan's father leads the way out back to the firewood. Here even Dolan can feel the sensation of being watched, though his father seems not to notice. If he does he doesn't say, but instead does his best to take over the fire wood chopping as if Dolan isn't entirely capable. He never seems to fully take his attention off his son; specifically his eye.

"Papa, I've _got_ it." Dolan had, when he resumed cloak, hat, gloves, and boots, also taken his blade outside and leaned it against the wall of the woodshed. "I can see just fine. That's what that's for." Although he works with a will and good speed, he casts the odd glance out into the woods. "Just -" All of a sudden, Dolan lowers the axe and looks directly at his father, suddenly deadly serious. "Papa. Promise me something? If I tell you to go inside and bar the doors, will you do it, and not ask any questions?" His axe dangles, held loosely and comfortably in one hand, the blade protected.

Andelena, meanwhile, stays cordial with Dolan's mother, helping her out with the dishes and, well, even making a little bit of a show of carrying some of the heavier ones like it's no sweat. "Ma'am, if that woman was my mother--which it sounds like it was--I... I wish I could apologize on my family's behalf for her taking that brush, but my mother's made it clear she wants me to have nothing to do with the family," she explains. "I'd be more than happy to have one sent to replace it, but as a gift from me to you. Mother's not in a habit of apologizing for her actions, I'm sad to say, but I always..."

The words stall in her head for a moment. More accurately, they choke in her throat. "I always hoped you and sir would be my new family, once Bry and I tied the knot," she says. "Now, should I go help the boys? Telamon out there's a bit skinny to be doing that kind of work."

Indeed, Telamon seems entirely out of place, lugging wood over. "This is a lot easier when I cheat, you know," he quips with a grin to Dolan. But his eyes never ever stop moving, that sense of hostile watching just refuses to go away. When Dolan stops, he makes a show of brushing himself off... although he whispers something softly to himself.

Dolan's mother smiles at Andelena. "Oh, after a comment like that? You're not going anywhere dear. You sit and have a cup of tea with me and tell me all about these wedding plans you have with my Brydion." She tugs Andelena into the living room.

Dolan's father seems about to respond when teeth appear out of the shadows behind the house behind him. Claws grasp him and pull him tight to the wall and he cries out in shock and pain. The teeth grin, poised to bite down.

A voice echoes from Dolan's own shadow, an odd whispering echo. "Drop the weapon."

GAME: Dolan rolls knowledge/the planes+3: (7)+10+3: 20

"IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY SUNLORD, GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM!" Dolan fairly roars at the top of his lungs, enough to echo across the quiet landscape. The axe hits the grass, burying its blade in it, and Dolan races back towards his blade leaning against the wall. "And that's why, Papa!" he adds.

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (13)+11: 24
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (20)+11: 31
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (10)+11: 21
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d8: (3): 3

The demon holding Dolan's father doesn't release him, instead it clamps its teeth down and a splurt of blood sprays forth. The man slumps down, his eyes fluttering. "Wh-" He manages to utter a confused half-sound around the demon's demand.

"Come with us, and we will release these people."

Inside the house one can easily hear the sound of Dolan's cry. But one of the shadows reaches out and grabs Dolan's mother, teeth forming near her face. "Stay where you are girl." The shadow whispers from between its teeth, obviously threatening Dolan's mother.

Andelena's steel-grey eyes, so different than the blues of her mother, widen as the shadow takes her beloved's mother hostage. Her hand clenches into a fist, and the surprise turns instantly into a snarl of rage after.

But... her hand is still. "I'm not a girl," she says. "I'm a woman and I stand on my own two feet. Who. The Fuck. Sent you? And what do you want?"

GAME: Dolan casts Cure Light Wounds. Caster Level: 6 DC: 14
GAME: Dolan rolls 1d8+5: (5)+5: 10

"LUMINOTH!" Telamon's response is almost instantaneous and impressive. The tattoo adorning his back lights up, flaring right through his clothes, a constellation of distant stars, a map to a place unseen by any on Ea. Then the blue-white light blazes forth, a halo that seems to vaporize the shadow-demon as Telamon thunders, "Return to the outer dark, or be thrown there, you--" and then he realizes it vanished. "....um."

"_Fuck._ Papa, hold still. Thanks, Tel, that's a damned handy spell." His sword forgotten, Dolan dashes over to his dazed and staggered father, pulls pff his glove with his teeth, and grabs for his holy symbol with the other hand. "Holy Knight, lay Your compassion upon this man, and heal the wounds that evil has wrought." At his words, a gentle sunlight forms around his hand, and he clamps it down firmly over the wound on his father's neck. "Take it easy, Papa. That's a shadow demon, and it's after me. I'm sorry I couldn't warn you fast enough."

Dolan's father leans into Dolan, his eyes flickering over his son. "When'd you learn to do that Brydion?" He asks, meaning the healing of course, then reaches around and touches the bandage on his son's neck. "Did you cut yourself shaving son? Thought I taught you better than that." He manages to get to his own feet as Dolan's healing restores his strength.

"Gods! Your mother!" With that he hurries away from Dolan and toward the house through the back door.

The demon beside Dolan's mother grins at Andelena. "That would make things too easy wouldn't it. Tell dear Brydion that either he comes with us; or everything living here dies. Tonight." The whispering words linger in the air and then the demon vanishes.

Andelena's steel-grey eyes burn hatred through the demon. Even after it's disappeared, the words linger in the air, and so does the tension in Andelena's hand. The wedding plans that Dolan's mother wanted so badly to hear are the furthest thing from her mind.

"Daeus grant me the strength to burn you and bury you, so that you never again hurt the man who I loved enough to walk away from the people who /were/ supposed to love me," Andelena says. It's half-prayer, half-vow. "Nothing in this world will stop me until you are broken and destroyed before us, demon."

She lets out a deep sigh and looks back at Brydion's mother. "I used to be Andelena of the Calogref family in Selentia," she says. "But my mother... loved to call me 'girl'. More than my own name, because I fell so far short. That's why I chose your son and that's why I chose your family, and I'm not about to let a godsdamned demon hurt him again."

Then she winces. "Sorry for cussing." Telamon blazes with blue-white light, an alien star come to the humble abode. As Dolan's father and Dolan head for the house, Tel comments, "I'd be happier if it'd keep them from slipping away like that. Pin it in place so you can beat it into random bits of ink." He gestures, the light fading away from him, and he checks one of the rings on his fingers. "Hopefully Andie and your mom are all right!"

"We'd best go find out." Leaving the axe buried in the ground, leaving the entire setup right where it is, Dolan grabs his greatsword off the wall and dashes after his father. "Come on, Tel. Nobody alone when there are demons around. I wish so too, but we go find Mama and Andie first. Mama's going to have kittens when she sees the blood on Papa." Never mind his own thoroughly bloodied hand.

He strides for the door, pushing aside the comment about the bandage and the nagging thrill of fear that runs through him. His own blood is hot enough that it is readily enough pushed aside, but - time enough for the truth when they know the others are safe. "Mama! Andie!"

Dolan's mother's eyes widen, her hands going to her lips. "Is that what happened to Byrdion? A demon?" She looks helplessly sad for a moment, then pats Andelena on the hand. "If a demon in the house isn't worth a curse or two I don't know what is. We'll forgive you it this time."

A moment later Dolan's father is through the door, and the two farmers embrace one another, holding on as if for dear life and as Dolan comes into the house his mother turns toward him very seriously. "That demon said that it was going to kill everything on the farm. What are we going to do Brydion?"

"We can't leave the animals." His father says stiffly, looking at his son. There's a mute unstated thing there however; in him turning to his son. That he trusts Dolan to know what's right in this situation. Trusts that Dolan will have the answers.

-TBC