Throughout the night following the attachment of Yoruns new forearm, he can feel pain springing through it as his body accepts the foreign arm, as the new light of morning comes through the window Yoruns eyes begin to open, he looks to the arm still feeling amazed and in pain due to its existence. Yorun gets up slowly and tries to move the fingers of his new clawed hand and as he slowly moves them the nerves throughout his arm practically light on fire causing him to stop but he noticed a slight delay in the movement of the fingers from when he tried to move move them and stop moving them. Yorun rests the arm in the sling once more as he slowly shambles out of his room and towards the war room where he senses Sunhale and Golanier who can feel that Yoruns awake, moments later Yorun enters the room.

  "I'd ask how you're feeling but I know precisely what you're going through. Sit down Yorun" Golanier said

  "Right" Yorun said as he sat down with a groan of pain as his arm jostled slightly

  "Other than the pain how is the new forearm feeling?" Sunhale asked curiously

  "I can move it, though the movements are a little slower than if I were to do it with my original or other remaining arm" Yorun said as he looked down to his arm

  "I should have mentioned that while the arm is now properly connected to you as your other arm is, it is still an arm of a different biology which while adapted to work alongside the human biology it will have limitations plus adding onto that it is still a dead arm though while it is effectively alive through the proper connections your magic flows through it adding the extra little bit for it to move better" Golanier said

  "You said that it was connected this way so that mag-" Yorun said before getting cut off

  "So that if the magic was cut off it'd still be fine and yes it will be however just a little slower than it is even now but don't worry about that either, cutting that connection is FAR from simple else our undead would be dropping like flies and you'd have never won Gantoral" Golanier said

  "Good to know I suppose" Yorun said

  "While the delay between thought and your arm is small, with the people we go against it could end up being noticed and used against you so be careful in combat all the same" Sunhale said

  "I will, I'd be an idiot otherwise. So it's time to deal with our prisoners then, Oarsteri and Holaire. What do we know right now?" Yorun asked

  "Well you said we should find out more about them so I dug up everything I could and scanned them" Sunhale said

  "Well enlighten us, have they changed from the people we assumed they were in Joaralta or are they still the same people whom deserve to have their souls put to better use?" Yorun asked before groaning as one of his new fingers twitched

  "Well as you know Holaire once upon a time started his own minor rebellion, I looked into the reasoning and its as vain as you'd expect from a Pertaki, it was simple arrogant power grab. He abandoned his meagre forces and went on the run eventually landing himself in Joaralta, now he was a spoiled noble child in an adults body so when he got to Joaralta he hadn't learned his lesson and tried to mess with some gangs there who subsequently caged him and used a blade to precisely cut his throat permanently damaging it and making him unable to speak as he previously did. Now this is where we get to territory we had not previously known, Oarsteri had apparently been a part of this gang and surprisingly took pity on him, she got him released saying the gang had their fun and the little noble couldn't do much else other than just be tortured a bit more and the others agreed letting him go. Weeks passed and she visited him a couple times, suffice to say they ended up sleeping together and eventually tried to make a power play over some smaller gangs which did work until they rubbed the bigger ones the wrong way and were forced to leave. No trail after that till we found them, the people of the village they were living in thought they were weird but alright and did take on a little bit of a leadership role in the village however they mostly just kept to themselves just seemingly settling down" Sunhale said

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  "Ok that last part is interesting though they could have simply finally learned they were not destined for true leadership and just decided to be in the moment with each other" Yorun said now somewhat curious himself

  "True however since they've been in captivity they've been oddly quiet or well she's been oddly quiet. The two have just remained, staying close to each other and caring for one another but they've made no attempts to escape or even thought of doing so. My scans have revealed no plotting just genuine contentment and love, they're in separate cells and that seems to be their only complaint given we do have an excess of actually good food so we can give that to them" Sunhale said

  "What background do we have for Oarsteri? You went over Holaires in more detail, what about her?" Golanier asked

  "Well she took a lot more digging, she is elven and as such due to our spy network criminals are either found and disposed of quickly or they're smart and leave after doing their first crime more often than not they'll also change their names and faces several times. So trying to figure out her original identity was not the easiest so I had to get through her mental defences, turns out she is a traitor to the crown, in the previous war between the elves and humans she gave information to the humans and as such caused a few key battles to be lost then once her treachery had been discovered she'd already fled having been spirited away by human forces during one of said battles. They searched for her for a while then the war ended and while some kept searching others gave up unless something new turned up" Sunhale said before looking to Yorun again

  "I'm going to go speak with them, depending on how that conversation goes, I'll either kill them and take their souls or we have two unexpected allies" Yorun said as he got up once more

  Yorun made his way to the fortress dungeon where Oarsteri and Holaire remained in their cells separated by a single wall, as the two of them heard the dungeon entrance door open they looked outside the cell bars to the stairway where they see Yorun coming down. When they see the cloaked and burned man they saw only once before they are surprised but even more so when they see he has seemingly regrown the part of his arm they'd seen he'd lost before. Yorun conjures a chair outside the cells and sits in view of the two of them.

  "Today you sit in judgement, either you die today and join Azkelts soul in being bound to me or you live and become tenuous allies with us" Yorun said

  "Seems a lots happened since we last saw you" Oarsteri said

  "Our resident spy master has looked into both of you during that time, one a noble with delusions of grandeur and a thirst for power while the other is a traitor who sold out their own people during war. Yet despite your crimes and lust for power you found one another and settled in that village we found you in. No plots, not ridiculous schemes to get power or even escape from here, just seemingly genuine love" Yorun said

  "So what?" Oarsteri said as she looked away from Yorun slightly

  "I was a married man, father of two children. I know love, I know the desire to settle down and now I know the want for power even if our reasons differ and we're practically in reverse. I want you both to look me in the eyes and tell me you have something special, something unorthodox and that you aren't going to sacrifice it and each other. I see any hint of deception or doubt and I take your souls" Yorun said as he hopes for the care of two lovers to win this day and add some more light to his current life thought he will not hesitate should it not be the case

  Holaire and Oarsteri look surprised yet calm, they don't seem to worried which makes Yorun smile a little on the inside but he ignores it and focusses on their eyes while using his magic to get a feel for their souls. He watches as they both get up and move to the cell doors and hold onto the bars as they try to look at eachother though Yorun makes the scythe appear in his hand and places the blade in their view before they glimpse one another.

  "I said look me in the eyes" Yorun said

  The two freeze for a moment then look at Yorun once more.

  "Holaire is my everything, I wouldn't trade him for the world" Oarsteri said with conviction and Yorun sees no conflict in her eyes

  "Oarsteri, saved me, I would trade the world for her" Holaire said with a weak voice yet strong determination

  A smile slowly grows on Yoruns face and he unlocks the doors to their cells, they immediately get out and embrace each other as Yorun watches.

  "If you weren't already I'm pretty sure I've technically got the requirement to marry you two right now given my chosen status so consider it done. Seeing this redemption and light amongst the darkness is a breath of fresh air but make no mistake, if I live to regret it, you won't" Yorun said as he got up de-conjuring the chair

  The couple just continued their embrace as Yorun left then he gently grabbed his new arm taking a deep breath as the years turned back in his mind to the days of just him and Lina before their children came along, the love that blossomed and bloomed even further when their children came along. The determination in the couples eyes as they proclaimed their love reminded him of himself and Lina on their own wedding day and every morning to follow until the day she and the children were taken, Yorun returns to his room once more as he takes the time to rest while his mind remains in such a happy place...