Interactive Quest breathe in, breathe out [Quest]

Sometimes his people called him cold, or distant, but Oriens did not think himself either of these things. Perhaps he seemed it, when he deemed honesty more important than sympathy. Sometimes he acknowledged it, that he should have been more tender with his half sister, way back when he had sent her and them into an eternal night.

But he wasn’t cold, nor was he distant. Without him Solis’ warmth would not exist, without him night would not turn to day. And he loved his people fiercely, his scholars and his soldiers. The children that ran through the streets of the dawn court, and the entertainers that sang to them. Even the stern medics that cried after them to slow down lest they need to waste a poultice on them.

He remembered every death, and every birth, no matter how long the life lasted. Lovis was no exception. He remembered the day the soft-spoken child had reared his head. Those were the quiet days, when Oriens rose and Vespera fell, in a quiet rhythm. Peaceful and gentle, days where a boy could grow without worry, and hunger for nothing but knowledge.
He had watched when Lovis asked for the hand of a woman, watched as she had rejected him, watched as she bore his child. He had been disappointed when the scholarly boy joined the army, instead hoping to see him travel lands in search of more. Nevertheless Oriens watched on.

And then one day he looked away, taken by some other child of his, though he could no longer remember who. Perhaps another soldier in that field, perhaps his own brother, he could never be sure. But he remembered the hoarse and ragged song that had reached his ears, and dragged his attention back down to the man he had watched for so many years.

He made a choice then, to descend, and to stop beside the man. He did not let him draw that final breath. Instead he drew it for him, and as he let it back out, he breathed some of his own life into Lovis. Perhaps it was foolish, to give such a gift to one child of the sunrise and not the rest, or maybe it was wise. It had yet to be seen which one, but it was done.

“Rise my child”

he spoke softly

“You will live another day yet”

The din of battle roared around them, the tune of Lovis’ song long gone.

“But promise me this. Use this eternal life to help those around you, to study the world. Go now young Lovis, there are many wounded, and they don’t need another soldier charging into the fray”