the lost heirs [private]

He whimpered, and then, figuring that he couldn't just ignore her—he might be punished again, he couldn't get punished again, he didn't want to, he couldn't handle it—he slowly got up. He was weak, but at least strong enough to walk with just some support. So he staggered over to Phryis, not looking at her or anyone else. His eyes were focused weakly on the ground.

And once they were outside, he collapsed onto his knees. He couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the cool night breeze, or the moon above them, or the forest right behind the palace. He just wanted to die. He didn't want to be alive anymore. "Please..." he begged her, eyeing the knife. "Please just...let me...I don't want to suffer anymore..."

He didn't say anything then, instead simply just breaking down. They have ruined him, and now they will not even grant them one mercy? "Please, please..." he begged her. "I can't...I'm weak. You tried to help me before. So...so if you want to try to help me again, end it. End me. Please."

"No!" he screamed, and then he broke down into tears, falling to the ground and curling in on himself, wrapping his broken wings around himself. "Just kill me. Do it...I can't...no..." His mind was slipping then, growing delirious from the torture that he had just been through prior to this. And soon enough, his words became unintelligible, and then he grew quiet, blacking out.

His mind slowly began to slip in and out, in and out, and he couldn't keep a solid grip on what was going on right now. So he just...decided to let go. Perhaps if he was lucky, he would die along the way.

(( Time skip to after Phryis encounters the Wyngins and Ellavan gets returned to them? ))

Ellivia, the healer, was in the healers' hut, watching over Ellavan right now. He was still passed out, clearly having been in a state of alternating consciousness for these past couple of weeks before he arrived here. "Is he going to be alright?" Vinthis asked Ellivia with worry. He had been elated that his brother finally came back—until he saw the state that he was in.

"He may, he may not," Ellivia said with a murmur. She glanced over toward Phryis, then, who she had allowed inside to see him. "Tell me. Do you know exactly what had happened to him?" Whatever it had been, it had been awful. Even if a few months of medicine could restore his body, she highly doubted that anything she could do would restore his mind just as easily.

Vinthis felt himself grow sick. What kind of torture did his brother suffer through for so long? "But...he's going to be okay, right?" Vinthis asked. "He had always been so strong. He'll pull through this one, too. I know he can. I hope he can. No, no. He can...right?"

"I'm afraid that all we can do right now is hope," Ellivia murmured. That was the best that they could do right now. In the years that Ellavan had been gone, the clan had split between Kalae and Uvuen. Uvuen took himself and his followers, left camp, and set it up somewhere else. From the looks of it, they were thriving. Ellivia wondered what Uvuen would do or think if he had seen his friend in this condition right now.

Vinthis felt some anger in him then again, but he quickly tried to calm himself down. He needed someone to blame for this. He needed someone to be angry at. But this girl was not the one he should direct his anger toward. "I know it's not your fault. At least you brought him back," Vinthis said to her. And then, he noticed Ellavan's eyes open slowly.

"Ellavan," Ellivia said softly. She approached him slowly then, but the first thing that Ellavan did was scream.

"No! Get away from me!" Ellavan screeched, moving up against the wall to get away from them. He huddled into himself, looking more fearful and broken than Ellivia had ever seen him before. "Don't touch me. I'll be good. I swear. Just please don't touch me."