Xyla was a Witch of the Shroud.
Varthamith was a man of high magical intelligence
It was natural that the two would find some comfort in each other
Yet even fate is cruel to the kindest of souls
---
Varthamith had been taken away by the citizens of Amdapor after tracking him down. Performing illegal arts he no longer practiced. Xyla tried convincing them but her words fell on deaf ears. No one ever listened to the witch. It was hard to imagine that she of all people offered to take his place, yet they cared not.
His crimes weighed heavy, and they decided to perform a public execution then and there. Xyla at this point was preparing to start a war. She was done with how others treated her, when Varth had been kind to her. It made her sick.
The day of his execution brought storm clouds. Waiting to rain on it all. The gallows were set and Varthamith was placed there with a bag over his head. Xyla managed to sneak into the crowd. Her time for revenge would come for the people...and yet she didn't cast magic. She didn't cast spells. Instead she tried one more time to convince the judge from ordering the execution to commence.
"Judge. Please, don't take the only thing I have left away from me. My...only happiness. If you take Varthamith from me, I will not hold back in my efforts to kill any and all of those who are here today." A threat. She was met with lances aimed at her throat. The judge stood there on the raised platform with a smug look. "Go ahead and try. You will only be met with the end of a spear. The law forbids any practice or ownership of taboo magic. Including any thaumaturgey. You would be at the gallows as well, but you are harmless."
Xyla lowered her head. "...You are right..But you are also wrong." her eyes slowly changed from their beautiful water blue to a pitch void black as she burst the area in flames, sending the guards back. Her eyes set on the judge as she fired a ball of flame towards him. It missed on purpose to hit the foundation, breaking the gallow and sparing Varthamith for the time. The Shroud did not welcome them anymore, and they had to make a getaway.
She took the bag off of Varthamith's head as they ran, making sure the rope went with it. "X-xyla...What are you doing?" he was confused. "I'm saving you, idiot! I'm not letting them take away what little joy i have left in this world!" a jump off a small cliff and a dash under hallowed trees and they seemed safe for now to catch their breath.
"I...didn't know you cared that much." Varth mentioned as she smacked his face. "Shut up! We need to leave the shroud. I heard of the northern lands. It will be hard, but i know we can make it there." but she was too tired as is.
"There they are!" a guard announced. The two dashed off as quick as they could. An arrow whizzed by them, then a few more. Xyla planned to hop off the waterfall and with her magic, she could make it like they hit the water too hard. "Jump with me!" she yelled. Varth was frightened, not wanting to but having no other option. So they jumped....
They fell...
And in the water they landed without major issues.
The guards wanted to make sure they were dead, so they ordered their men to search the area.
---
After a few more minutes, the two emerged from the water and climbed to an embankment. They caught their breaths and with time, they could finally be free. Xyla looked to Varthamith. Her voice gasping at each word. "W-we...Did it..." she chuckled."
Varthamith did not respond.
"Hey...Varthamith?" she tried to jostle him. No response.
"W-wake up. This isn't funny..." she tried once more, feeling his pulse.
Cold.
In that moment, as if the whole realm came to a sudden stop, Xyla was alone. Varthamith was dead. She turned him over, noticing the arrows in his back that she hadn't seen yet. He shielded her from each one that was aimed at her and yet he still managed to run until the end.
"No...please no..Varthamith you can't leave me...I...I don't want to be alone again...Wake up." she sobbed. Tears hitting his lifeless expression. Her cries of anguish alerted the guards who descended upon Xyla. Ready to kill her for releasing a prisoner.
They said on that day in the forest...the body of ten guards were reduced to ash. Armor broken and shattered from the ice...and flowers bloomed from where they stepped.
---
Xyla didn't dare return to her home. She simply went back to grab a few reagents and a small sphere she got as a present from Varthamith. The orb was cream and yellow colored that swirled within it like magic. The book about Voidsent was there as well. She took advantage of it, and decided against her own judgement to use these arts.
She followed all the steps in the book, used as much aether as her items possessed to reinforce it...and with a transfer of Varthamith's soul, she would bind his being into this realm through the sphere. His phylactery.Â
It felt warm...The same warmth that she felt with his hand.
"Oh Varthamith...We can be together forever. Please. Rise up once more and let me hear your wonderful voice again...please."
Varthamith would rise again. Yet now he had half his skeleton. His body radiated with a cold blue aura. His eyes now husks with magical energy for pupils. He floated there, dressed in a regal robe. His voice was deeper but it was him. "I-i'm...a lich?" he wondered how before noticing Xyla. "See Varthamith? You have your immortality. We can still be together!"
---
It is here that all records of the two vanished from archives in Gridania. It is here that the tale ended and began this Era...and it is at this point that a man in dark black robes approached them and asked if they would join in their cause...
"They will soon pay for what they did to my life. The realm will know my name is Xyla...And with our strength combined, Zodiark will rise once more...and Hydaelyn will fall."
-Xyla Prime
-END-
