Fragments of the World Eater (Pendragon)

[readlliea]

Original thread- http://archive.visionary-tales.com/fragments-of-the-world-eater-t22851.html )

Duin's ability to speak Common was still not there, why was it whenever he tried to do it was like the words would get caught in his throat? While he knew the people here would sort of understand him it did cause issues. How would he be able to communicate with them? The breakfast at the table wasn't his focus, he looked to be lost in his head. Trying to come up with a solution that made his rust colored eyes look slightly dim.

"Jul....." Duin started, gesturing slightly to his throat as he tried to figure out how to word this as he realized there were words he wanted to use that didn't exisit in the tongue of dragons. "Jul...zul?"

When one pondered over those draconic words, they might come to understand he was asking how to speak like man were. Granted, it was the only word he could think of on such a short moment to use in this moment. How could he talk like them? There had to be some way.

Despite having slept here, he still wore the clothing he was in last night. Not very warm looking, the fabric looked somewhat tattered and even burned in some spots. It was hard to notice given the high emotions during the first meeting and the overall struggle to figure out some line of communication. Rust eyes looked between the two adults, seeking some answer or hope that his words were even remotely understood.

(Man.... Man voice?"

[PendragonXeno94]

Kohl-Brenna glanced up at Duin as he spoke up. "You... want to speak like us...?"

Dagny looked up when her mother addressed Duin. She looked between him and her mother as she wasn't sure what he just asked.

"Um..." Kohl-Brenna tilted her head from side to side. "I don't know how to answer that."

"Just... speak?" suggested Erick.

[readlliea]

That wasn't helpful, a saddened yet disappointed look came to his face as Duin sat there. Just speak? He was just speaking, the Dov tongue rolled off his own with such ease. It was what he understood best and while he could understand common, it was something he was struggling with. Taking a deep, he gathered his grasp on the human tongue and he attempted it.

"Th.....r.....urgh!" Duin tried, a look of discomfort coming to his face before he fell into a fight of coughing, covering his mouth with a hand and leaning against his chair.

From the bit of his face they could see, there was pain and a great deal of discomfort on his face. When his coughing stopped, they could hear the raspy breathing and slowly he removed his hand, gesturing to his throat.

"Jol zul.....*unknown words here*.." Duin rasped out, his voice sounding more okay when he restored to the dragon tongue.

Despise some of his words being hard to understand, him gesturing to his throat as he spoke and the scene they just witnessed helped convey that the words just seemed to get violently stuck. Almost like they couldn't pass through for some reason. Though he tugged at the collar of his shirt due to the lingering discomfort and if anyone at the table had a keen eye, they would see a car running across the man's throat. If they looked closer, they would probably believe that such a wound would render a man mute if they somehow survived it. It was long and covered most of the front of their throat, almost as if someone tried to slash it but it wasn't straight. Leaving it looking like a jagged mess but it looked to be years healed.

[PendragonXeno94]

Before Dagny could add anything, she stood up and began to move towards Duin when he started to have a coughing fit. She looked back at her parents as their faces shifted into expressions of concern before he finally stopped and gestured to his throat. She examined the scar on his neck once he drew attention to it. How he was able to speak with it was beyond her. She turned back to her parents.

"We need to take him to a healer," said Erick, getting up from his spot at the table and going to the steward. "I need you to get the carriage ready. We have to take our guest to be examined by the healer."

"Will do, sir," the steward replied, stepping through the front door.

Dagny held her hand out for Duin to take so she could help him up and walk him to the carriage. "I hope the healer can figure out what's ailing you," she said.

[readlliea]

A low word left him but it was just him saying healer in dova tongue, a look of confusion on his face. Though he didn't put up a fuss as he sat there, while not seeing the need for a healer he wouldn't say anything to insult the people he had met during the night. Accepting the hand, he was upon his feet and seemed to be doing fine. A bit perplexed but that seemed to be natural to him. A natural confusion about the world around him despite being a adult himself.

"Aalkos nuz, Zu'u mindok ni waan daar los ailment uv nunon atruk Zu'u can't volk." Duin would responded as he looked to Dagny. "Nii nunon koros fod Zu'u unt wah tinvaak med hi."

(Translation: Perhaps but, I know not if this is a ailment or just something I can't grasp. It only happen when I try to talk like you)

The carriage was ready very quickly and Duin would get in. His throat felt sore and truthfully, he never noticed it prior to meeting this family. Rust colored eyes watched the trees go by at a slow pace and they would arrive at a home almost at the town but not quite. The healer liking their privacy seemed to linger upon the edge of the town. A elderly woman had just opened the door of the house to spot the spotted carriage.

"Ah Erick and family, what ails you? I have many a tonic already prepared." Madam Grindle would say as she hobbled out of her home to greet the couple, not yet noticing the man that they brought to see her.

[PendragonXeno94]

Kohl-Brenna rolled her eyes as she heard Duin continue on about how he only has a coughing fit whenever he tried to speak like them. "C'mon, we need to get to Madam Grindle."

Once they reached Madam Grindle's house, Erick led the way to the door where they were greeted by the healer. "Madam Grindle," he said. "We have a guest that needs to have his neck scar looked at. I'm not sure how he sustained the inquiry and lived. And whenever he tries to speak in anything other than his natural tongue, he has a violent cough." He shrugged as Dagny walked in with Duin. "We're not sure what we can do for him and hoped that you have an answer for it."

[readlliea]

"Hm bring him in." Madam Grindle would instruct as she hobbled back into her hut.

Following in, Duin tilted his head as he took in the small home. The smell of herbs was strong in the air and it slightly irritated his nose but he was fine despite the strong smell. With a gesture, the old woman pointed for the man to take a seat on the hard floor. A look of uncertainty was on his face though Duin did as he was instructed to.

"Alright lad, lift your head so I can look at this neck of yers." Madam Grindle said as she approached him once more.

Duin followed the order and Madam Grindle gained a surprised look. That was quite the scars. Her wrinkled fingers pressed lightly against the skin around it. The whole thing had healed....hm...but something felt off. She couldn't quite tell.

"Do you know how you got this?" She questioned.

"Nid." Duin answered. "Vahrukt sizaan."
(No. Memory lost.)

The surprise grew on her face at this. She didn't understand a word she had just heard and she looked to Erik and Kohl-Brenna.

"My dear, you mentioned native tongue earlier. This is his native tongue?" she asked.

[PendragonXeno94]

Erick watched on as Madam Grindle examined Duin's throat. When she had turned to ask him and Kohl-Brenna if that was his native tongue he spoke in, he nodded.

"He swears he has no memory of how he got that scar," Kohl-Brenna added. "But I still don't know how he can speak it."

Erick scratched his head as he tried to think of something. "Could you get him to try to say a phrase or something? Maybe that would trigger his coughs..."

[readlliea]

"Are you sure he's even learned how to speak in our tongue? Understanding it is different than being able to speak it." Madam Grindle questions, a common thing that would need clarification.

"Zu'u vis mindoraan hi pah tul, hi mindok?" Duin remarks as he sits there.
(I can understand you all still, you know?)

They could just ask him to say something, they were all in the same room with him. It felt weird that the others were talking to Madam Grindle yet when it came to something he would have to demonstrate, they spoke to her rather than him. It felt weird...uncomfortable in a strange way. A way he didn't know he could feel despite their good intentions. Yet something slightly akin to it felt familiar.

"Well lad, I don't know what you are saying." Madam Grindle replied as she directed her focus to him. "Would you be kind enough to demonstrate for us? It is no doubt uncomfortable so I understand if you have any apprehensiveness to the idea. But know that I will give you something to help ease your discomfort once I figure things out."

A small inhale of air left Duin as he sat there. It was oddly enough feeling like there was no choice on the matter...which was weird. This was meant to help and yet he was starting to just feel like it was the opposite way. Why this change? Was it just due to how the conversation was being handled?

"I ca..uff..." Duin started though once again his throat seized up on him and the feeling of nor air hit him, causing him to start coughing as was expected.

Rather than waiting for him to be done, Madam Grindle moved his chin up slightly and felt around the scar again. The sound of him coughing only worsened thanks to that and her pressing around the area but Madam Grindle seemed to make a sound before she rose from her spot and headed over to her herbs. Duin's breathing evened out by time she came over to him with a cup, it had various smells within it and he gave a conflicted look to the item as it was pushed to him. A obvious sign to take it.

"Something seems to be stuck in you're throat, I'm not sure where exactly but with any luck it's probably in your throat to where this can dislodge it." Madam Grindle explained.

Taking the drink, it tasted horrible and it burned on the way down. However, Duin dropped the empty cup as he felt a great deal of pain in his neck. A hand reaching quickly for it as blood started to trickle out of the corners of his mouth that quickly followed by him coughing and gasping far more violently. Hunching forward as he sat there, Duin continued to choke on something and blood would leave his mouth as he felt something moving around in his throat, pushing and twisting. Cutting as it went that only caused that painful fire in his neck to hurt more.

Madam Grindle had a very shocked look on her face, this wasn't how this medicine worked at all. The fact that blood was involved made her wonder if she somehow got it wrong in some way. But then the man started hacking, as if trying to spit something up and to everyone's surprise. A decent sized chunk of metal clinked against the floor as it bounced away from him; blood following it. Duin's coughing ended but he was still breathing heavily, the pain in his throat and the feeling of fire was growing stronger as his eyes watered. He felt like something else was in there but he had no words, he just needed air, all he wanted was air in his lungs.

There was also something else, his rust colored eyes were staring at his blood and even when/if one of the people picked up the piece of metal, he'd stare at where it had landed. The room changed to him, his eyes were met with the outdoors it looked. But that was quickly changed as he saw a large sword being swung toward him and blood spraying into the air. It was all in his head yes, but he sat there with raspy breathing as he tried to pull in more air.

If Kohl-Brenna picked up that piece of metal, she'd find it was thick. Thicker than a piece of silverware, no this was from a weapon. Not a silly dagger but a sword. And well, any warrior would know what the metal of their own blade would look like. Even if shattered during a fight and years later finding one of it's pieces.

[PendragonXeno94]

As Duin coughed again, Dagny started to move towards him when Kohl-Brenna placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let Madam Grindle help him."

When he was given an elixir, Dagny watched helplessly as he began to cough up blood and hack up whatever was lodged in his throat. She was about to try and intervene when he hacked up a piece of metal. "How... Where did that come from?" How had he been able to walk around with that in his throat and be able to not be injured more than some blood?

Kohl-Brenna, on the other hand, picked up the piece of metal and looked it over. Memory after memory flooded into her brain to where she recalled the very moment she slashed her sword across Alduin's neck and the tip of her ebony blade broke off. Before she could even try and think on it, her eyes bore her into Duin's and her brows furrowed, the corners of her twisted into a snarl. "How are you alive?" she boomed, pulling her dagger out and charging towards him.

"Love, stop!" shouted Erick, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her bacl.

[readlliea]

There was a bit more blood when he was coughing up the blade piece and after it was out of him. His body shuddered as he sat there, trying to get the air in as he felt warm, that warmth quickly growing. Slowly he looked up with those rust colored eyes, trying to ask about why it still burned and why his body was heating up so much at his chest and throat. Almost as if it was rising up and festering in him, seeking a release.

But that's when she pulled a dagger and fear came to his face, the illusion his mind was making just had a blurred armored person. No details, no features. Other than the weapon that was coming at him and something else seemed to take hold. Panic and fear but something more primal took over as his skin heated up and sweat started to fall off his skin.

That's when it happened, a intake of air as he tried to move away and then it was released. All that heart surged up his neck and flames erupted from there, hitting the floor due to him not aiming for Kohl-Brenna. Merely seeking to put a barrier of sorts between him and the 'attacker'. Though he spurted and coughed as he fell backwards due to trying to push himself backwards at the same time.

"Quick dearie, get water!" Madam Grindle ordered of Dagny.

[PendragonXeno94]

Dagny ducked behind her parents as Duin hit a spot on the floor with flames that suddenly erupted. She immediately ran to fetch some water, throwing it on the flames before giving Duin some. "It's alright," she reassured. "You're safe. Nobody's trying to hurt you."

"Dagny, get back!" shouted her mother. "You don't know what he'll do."

"He needs water!"

"He tried to destroy the world before! And he won't hesitate to kill you!"

Dagny looked between Kohl-Brenna and Duin as she gave him more water. "Mama, please! He's suffering!"

[readlliea]

Madam Grindle had managed to get a bucket of water and since the flames in the floor were gone, she set it near the two souls so it was in reach. Duin panted and wheezed, taking the cup he was quick to down it but it was clear it wasn't helping as much as he'd desire. The words between the people were hard to hear and even after the second cup, he felt it. That fire, that warmth....too much still. Though he noticed the deep bucket and pulled it closer. Submerging his head and the sound of steam whistling filled the room as the steam rose from the bucket.

"Hm....that's very unusual." Madam Grindle muttered.

Even when he put his head under the water, he was drinking it at the same time. Pulling his head out of the water, he gave a few coughs before as the water evaporated off of his head. With some water still in the bucket, he raised it up and poured the small amount onto himself. It evaporated quickly but it was clear he was still burning up.

"Kohl, my dear. Get another bucket of water from the well. We need to contain the issue before it grows worse and threatening a patient isn't helping." she added.

[PendragonXeno94]

Everyone looked on at Duin submerged his head into the bucket, the steam rising as he did so. As nothing seemed to quell his heat or thirst, Kohl-Brenna huffed as she sheathed her dagger and rushed to get a second bucket of water. She grumbled to herself as she drew from the well before rushing back into the house and dumping it onto Duin. "I hope you've suffered," she sneered.

"Brenna, that's enough," said Erick. "He's in enough pain. Let him be."

"But-"

Erick shook his head. "Let it be."

She sighed before she shook her head and leaned against the table.

[readlliea]

The second dosing of water hit with a plum of steam would leave him again, some patches of his skin were red now. As if showing how his body was heating up but the water was at least giving temporary relief.

"Fos?" Duin questioned, as he sat there.
(what?)

Confusion was on his face but his attention quickly returned to this heat. It took some time before Duin felt some relief; he could still feel it though and in truth his body had been thrust into a fever. No longer spewing out flames but Duin clearly wasn't looking great. No longer trying to dose himself in water, he was just sitting there. Taking careful breathes as once in a while, he'd feel like that warmth would try to rise up but he would prevented it from getting any higher. Madam Grindle had pulled the two parents aside to talk with them in private.

"Well i know not of where you found this man or how he's alive. But i think if this fever is to go away, he might need to learn how to subdue that ability." she said, refering to the fire breathing. "I think that piece of blade was still in them as that wound healed and thus, it was straining his vocal cords but perhaps blocking off that ability too."