If she had little hope of ever spotting the shadowmaster’s presence whilst she were alert and awake, she had no hope at all of becoming aware now as he slid from the clothing armoire and stole through the shadows to her bedside. The moon elf stood over her body as she rested it, his pale golden eyes lowering down through the darkness upon her. His ears gave a twitch and a thin smile curled his lips; she was not conscious. Di’thang descended to his knees slowly, taking care that they did not cause a creaking of floorboards, and released his ice white hair from its band, allowing it to brush over his shoulders.

She had sensed his presence the last night he had chosen to be at her side, she didn’t know how and he certainly didn’t, but she had known. She had told him, in what he could only define as ‘uncertain terms,’ that she had seen him there… and she had also seen herself there before him. Perhaps an out-of-body experience, not uncommon among Psionics, of which she was one. A frown played the lips of the moon elf male now as he remembered that that was not all she had seen that night. She had seen Shade, an old nemesis of Di’thang’s and Verin’s husband now, an elf that they had all in their hearts assumed dead. Yet Ar’thilmus had seen him, leaning over her as he, Di’thang, did now and smiling on her like a friend. Knowing that she had smiled back at him made Di’thang’s stomach crawl, but he did not condemn her for she had not known. The amnesia had made her unknowing of Shade’s ways; she had not recognized his face when she returned his grin and she had been weak to him… her mind open and defenseless to his psionic infiltrations.

Ar’thilmus stirred in the bed now, a small moan leaving her lips that caused Di’thang’s head to tip on a side, his golden eyes looking as though to meet hers through the hooded eyelids. His hand lifted to her cheek, a frown on his face as he could almost feel her pain, something in her visions and her dreams haunting her mind, playing with her thoughts. He knew the shadow was still within, Dhae, somewhere in there lying low as it kept her memory from her. Dhae had known where to hit Di’thang and where to hit Ar’thilmus, he had caused more pain already than a poisoned dagger or an eternity in the Abyss ever could; he had drawn tears from eyes that had not cried in decades, bought sorrow to a heart that was once without pity.

Di’thang’s fingers caressed the cheek softly, feeling the warmth that emanated from it, and the three words came whispered off his lips to her latent form. “Here for you.” Her wrist grabbed his so tight that he gasped, the blood running cold under her warm fingers and he stared down at her. Deep golden eyes were gazing up at him; she was either frightened or she was angry, he could not decide between the two. And she spoke, a single word, harsh and demanding.

“You.”

“Yes.”

She narrowed her eyes at his response, challenging him for a moment and testing him at the same time and then, using his arm as leverage she pulled herself into an upright position, sat still on the mattress and making an effort to keep the silk sheets clung to her bare and slender form. Their eyes met but Di’thang’s did not falter, did not show weakness and so, he noticed, she remained to show the same as she spoke.

“Why are you here again?”

“We are watching you, of course, our love…” came his reply, coupled with a sly smile. She squinted at him slowly, looking for a moment to his wrist still gripped in her fingers before looking back to him. She was surprised to notice he was not peering at her as so often he did, but instead examining the room around her.

“Whilst I am asleep?”

He looked back to her. “Seemingly that is when you are your weakest, when better a time to watch?”

She scowled at his words, refusing to believe them and knowing he was right, and upon seeing this he gave a chuckle, reading her, as usual, as though she were but an open book. She was about to release his wrist when he jerked it back towards him suddenly, pulling her with it and gently touching his lips to hers. She muttered something and closed her eyes, and Di’thang noted with displeasure how she did not return the gentle gesture, but likewise did not resist it. He did not force her anymore, he had been thankful of the kiss in town and was not with intention to ruin progress by making moves when she had only just awoken from what was, undoubtedly, not the most pleasant of rests.

She released his wrist as he pulled away, letting herself fall back onto the bed and tugging the sheets tight around her to hide how her body had reacted to his gentle contact. She looked up at him and gave a definite blink, the words drifting off her lips in a voice that was slightly too echoing to be her own.

“You must stop touching us like that or we will forget all over again.”

The moon elf husband blinked down at his wife, standing slowly to his feet. The voice had surprised Di’thang for this time it was not her voice and yet nor did it belong to Dhae. There was a definite mix to the words and to the tone that gave him the vague impression that the minds were mixing, that Ar’thilmus was losing to the virus-like shadow within. The warning was hers and yet his.

“And you must stop talking like that, our love. We touch because we will never give up. Take the memories all you like, we will not turn and walk away. Ever.”

He was sure she sneered at his words but the expression turned just as quickly as it had came to a smile and she slowly nestled herself back under the covers, one cheek on the pillow and both golden eyes staring across the room at him. He met the eyes and he frowned, feeling within him that feeling of loss and of helplessness. Perhaps Verin had been right, perhaps he was to blame for bringing that thing, Dhae, to Pilgrim’s Rest. Perhaps Ar’thilmus would have been safer had his eyes never fallen on her. The shadows swept over him, pulling him back into their confines, dragging him to the wall as his fists clenched tight in anger. He was angry at the one being he could not hit, the one being he could not shoot down or finish with his dagger. He was there for her as always and yet he was useless to her.

As Di’thang vanished in plain sight before her eyes, Ar’thilmus gave a small smile in the corner of her lips and her eyes flickered closed.