A Cursed Union (My Angel Is Broken/Viliya)

[Viliya]

This expedition had taken months of planning, and had cost her employer a great deal just to make sure she had the information she needed. Normally Valya Moorshire, commonly known as "The Shadow", stole things from people's homes or off their personages. Grave robbing happened at the right price too, but delving into ruins and snatching something forgotten save for myths and legends didn't usually fall into her skill set. Her employer had insisted upon her for the assignment though. He'd promised good money upon her return, and it was enough she was already planning her quiet retirement from the world of thieves and criminals.

If she'd known artifact hunting could be so lucrative she might have done it from the start. Then again, tramping through uncharted forest and having to fend off wildlife wasn't the most pleasant thing. It might make smaller amounts, but thieving at least provided a soft bed and the relative safety of a city.

Brushing aside branches she sighed. Before her lay her destination. Finally.

The temple was a mass of ruined stone and statues too weathered to identify any longer. And right there, on what was once an altar, were the two large, gold interlocked rings. Both were decorated with the Ouroboros in silver, and looked untouched by time. Pulling out a leather sack she approached them.

"Alright. Just gotta get you in the bag and head on home. Easy peasy."

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

Reyner was at home in the forest. It breathed life into him. The scents, the sounds, the smells... He grew up on them and embraced them. Life in the wilderness, growing up into late adolescence, was the most joyous time he had so far. Before they came. With their magic and cruelty, they uprooted his isolated family home, carved up his parents and then carved into him. Runes. Control. Forced recruitment. Not that he made it easy for him, but there were ways you could break and twist a young psyche that he could never have imagined, of both natural and unnatural origin. Most wouldn't want to. Most didn't need to.

So after years of suffering and then submitting and then following and then carrying out their missions, here he was, what was to be a final task in exchange for his freedom. The trust wasn't an easy one but after so long, a bond forms in this way, to this point that even in their savage way Reyner feels they'll honor their deal for he has earned it. The comedy of it is, once he's granted his independence, there's no other home that he knows and he's not sure he'd bother to look for one.

This contemplation faded from his thoughts as he came upon the temple. A place of crumbling stones and old, lost culture. He caught sight of the altar and, despite the rules of deterioration, the untarnished rings. He almost scoffed in disbelief, expecting the chore of some tedious search through rubbles and instead they looked to be waiting for their discoverer.

That's when he caught sight of her. He moved quickly and quietly to press against a statue and tsked.
Of course, it couldn't be simple. He dropped a hand to the hilt of his shortsword, but bloodshed wasn't his first choice.
Instead, a row of small throw knives lined his leather belt in a holster. He drew one loose and stepped out from against the statue. He let it fly with a swift motion of his arm, releasing it by the tip of the blade so it'd move front over end, the blade quickly found its mark with the point, catching the bag from the woman's hand.

"Hold! I see you've found my rings, adventurer." His voice called as he approaches. "Honest enough mistake. With them sitting out in the open like this." His voice played lightly while his eyes made sure to find her's and make the promise of a potential threat.

 

[Viliya]

Valya cursed softly as the blade struck inches from her fingers. She should have been paying more attention. Her hand rested on the hilt of her short sword as she turned to face the man with an arrogant little smirk.

"I think it's you who's mistaken," she replied cheerfully enough, though her eyes narrowed slightly, "These belong to the man who's paid for them, and you are most certainly not him. Now I've had a hell of a time finding this place, and I'd really appreciate it if we could just agree that since I got here first I get to take them."

Her eyes never left his as she crouched down to pick up the bags. She'd been given explicit instructions not to touch the rings, and while she didn't know why it mattered she'd follow orders.
Covering her hand with the small bag she grabbed at them. The hand on her sword hilt tightened, ready to draw the blade.

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

Talking was worth a try, he supposed, but expecting anyone to accept loss loot after this far of a trek was wishful thinking.
The same went for him.
As soon as the stranger grabbed at the rings, Reyner drew his steel and swung sharply downward, just missing the tips of her fingers before she grabbed the prize. It struck the altar with a scrape and he sighed at the potential damage to the blade's edge.

"You're quick." He noted out loud, piecing together the likelihood that this wasn't some luck-stricken amateur. He backed up for her potential retaliation, putting space between them so a strike of her own wouldn't find him. He took in a breath, steadying it as the inhaled deepened.
"I have coin. I can offer you a deal, but it's the only offer I'll make before this gets... messy."

He, too, had the warning against touching the rings against bare flesh but the specifics of consequences were unknown to him. He had put a glove on only one hand, however, it currently around the handle of his sword. This was meant to be quick, isolated retrieval... The unexpected variable was pressing to the forefront of his mind, the chance of exposure to the curse falling to the back.
"Either way, I'm not leaving without the rings."

 

[Viliya]

She dropped the bag as he swung and jerked her hand back. Lunging forward she swiped with her own blade, her other hand pulling a slim parrying dagger from the sheath at her lower back. Missing him by a hair she fell back into a defensive position, the warnings she was given forgotten.

All that mattered was the fight about to happen.

"How cute," she quipped with a patronizing tone, "You think you have enough coin to out buy my employer."

Getting the rings and leaving alive were all that mattered. Lunging forward again she swung with the sword in the hopes of pushing him back away from the altar. In a mad dash for the rings she figures she'd have the upper hand. Elves were speedier than humans after all. She just needed to get him far enough away to make that speed really count.

 

[My Angel Is Broken]

His sword was held upright in a defensive position, eyes narrowed on the persistent Elf girl, a frustration growing inside of him.

"I'm just trying to spare your life." He glanced back to the rings, still up for the quickest grabber or the survivor of this fight. Clearly, though, threats weren't going to scare this thief away. A rune in his neck began to heat and singe his skin. He winced in reaction to it before the pain faded. It would be the first reminder that he was on a time limit. Each passing day would bring another dose of intense pain. None matching what it'd be if he returned empty-handed.

He gave a quick downward slash in another attempt to push her away from the altar more so than landing a blow. Unfortunately, he never quite shared his captor's preference for savagery, no matter their torture and conditioning. With his back turned, he reached back without looking, his bare hand grabbing for the rings but only finding one. His fingers fumbled for the other but he couldn't find it and there was no time to let this Elf find an opening.

"Damn." He muttered, his hand wrapped around the ring, pressing against the handle of his sword as he braced himself just in time to defend against her lunge, causing him to take hard steps back away from the altar, where the remaining ring still sat.

 

[Viliya]

"Right," she sneered, "Because my employer's going to pat me gently on the head if I fail!"

She saw him grab the first ring and knew she needed to grab the other if she was to have any chance of succeeding. So when she drove him back she snatched the other, only realizing her mistake when it was too late.

Valya felt the magic crackling in the air, and cursing tried to drop the ring. It refused to leave her hand as the band, and the serpent etched upon it, unwound itself. Striking at her left ring finger it curled around it, becoming a ring that sat as snugly as if it had been made for her. Residual magic made her hand tingle, and sheathing her blades she tried to pull it off.

It didn't budge. No matter how she twisted and tugged it refused to move, and after a particularly rough attempt it seemed to squeeze even tighter briefly. The cool demeanor she'd had slowly began to crumble into panicked anger. She couldn't go back with just one ring! Not to mention she'd be lucky to only lose a finger when they saw her wearing it! Forget the money, her life was now on the line.

"You fucking idiot!"

Drawing her blade she charged at him recklessly. Valya had to get that other ring from him. She'd kill him for it if that's what it took to get the damned thing. At least it she returned with both, and wearing one, she knew for certain the finger was all she'd lose.