Dresyn

"Frozen in Time
Till you say those words"

In an alternate universe in the past, there was a place called Xious. Xious was home of Masquerades, Temples to the Gods (Similar to our Greek Gods) and thieves.

Dresyn use to be one of the greatest thieves. He didn't just steal jewels, he stole hearts. Hearts of maidens he had once saved before he stole more. Dresyn spent his life on the streets of Xious, living in infamy as the King of Thieves. Until he met her... A creature that had stolen his own heart in the process. He met her in the marketplace, where he was pick-pocketing fellow merchants to help the helpless of Xious' streets. She was hooded and trying to purchase some food for a cheap price. The merchant refused and Dresyn had heard why.

"You are no human. Humans only can buy from merchants on this street." Dresyn narrowed his eyes as he stormed over. But she seemed to be handling the situation easily.

"But sir, this is important. It's for the gods." The merchant turned pale and started to gather all the food for her. Dresyn had a more stunned look on his face as the girl turned around.

She was beautiful, even with the freakishly colored skin, as her chlorophyll eyes regarded him calmly. Her elfish features showed on her green/brownish color skin. Dresyn turned pale when he realized what she was. A dryad, a wood nymph, a servant of the gods. Those around these parts knew to respect the dryads as fear that the gods wouldn't like it and they would blast the person that did. Dresyn was no fool to this. He wouldn't dare disrepect these who serve the gods, especially the god who would parton him. The god of thieves himself. Though, he couldn't stop starring at her. Whatever it was, she had this aura that just called him to her because he nearly crashed into her.

"Dear gods, I'm sorry." She had spilled everything onto the streets. She let out a sigh, probably out of annoyance as she got down on her knees and started to gather all the food. Dresyn stood there like an idiot till she said something.

"I could use some help..." Her voice was sweet on his ears, though he felt like he had to obey. He felt his knees buckle. He got on his knees and started to help her with the food and putting it in a bag. She got up and gathered the bags. "Thank you."

Dresyn bowed his head slightly, afraid that his tongue would betray him. She bit her lip and started to head through the crowd, back to the temples on the hills. Dresyn watched her retreating figure, mesmerized by his encounter with the elusive dryads. He shook his head. He shouldn't have acted that way. He knew that much.

So, he went about his normal business. Pick-pocketing the travelling merchants and the nobles who believed they were above everyone. He stole a purse off one of the Nobles. Though, this would be different from the other times. He started to duck into an alleyway when something grabbed the back of his tunic, making him flail as he was lifted off the ground. He struggled, his violent, red eyes scowering and searching for who had grabbed him.

"I have him sire." Dresyn growled as he struggled to get out of the man's grip.

"Let me go!" He saw the noble who was trotting up with his valiant Arabian horse. The noble's nose was upturned, like most snobby nobles that Dresyn knew. His eyes were harsh in blue and threatening a storm in Dresyn's direction.

"Another thief who wants his hands removed." Dresyn tensed and struggled more. The noble nodded to the man who had Dresyn by the scruff of his shirt. The man nodded, taking the purse from Dresyn and led him down to the dungeons.

Dresyn growled and continued to struggle. The man called for the guards, these men who were said to be chosen by the gods themselves. The guards came out and recognized Dresyn's face.

"The infamous King of Thieves..." The expression on the man's face turned from expressionless to surprise.

"The King of Thieves eh?" Dresyn growled more and turned his face away, knowing it was pointless to fight anymore. "The noble Kailar wants his hands removed." The guards expressions changed to horror.

"That is not out law." The man who had a grip on Dresyn's shirt glared at them. He grounded his teeth and shoved Dresyn at them.

"Then make sure he stays locked up. No food or water. As this is Kailar's wishes." The guards grabbed Dresyn before he could escape and put some shackles around his wrists. Dresyn gave a disgusted look as they led him into the dank dungeon cell and chained him up against the wall.

"We finally have him." Dresyn hung his head as he was lifted off the ground by his wrists above him. "The King of Thieves." Dresyn kept his head bowed in silence. He knew that he was caught, there was no way for him to escape. He also knew that they might not cut his hands off, but they would disable him. Especially from using his hands again. So he hung there, waiting for his punishment as he had no hope of escaping this time. This could be the end of the King of Thieves...

* * * *

Days past and nothing happened. The guards didn't come with the promised punishment. The man with the noble never came to see if hany of his wishes were carried out. Though, one wish had been carried out by the guards. No food or water. Dresyn had been hanging there for days without water and food. His head was still hung as he was hanging there. His wrists had been turning raw from his struggles against the metal.

One day, a week after he had been incarcerated, he got a visitor. She had said that she was high priestess to the goddess Aspen. The guards let her through as they were below her stature. She waved past them and headed down into the cells. Dresyn didn't look up as she came up to him. Her hood was drawn over her face, so when she looked up at him, he couldn't see her face. She pulled back slightly and brought out a bit of cloth. It was soaked with water, which she dabbed on his face. Dresyn's voice was hoarse from a parched throat.

"Why...?" He opened his eyes a bit more and looked at her, his face pale. "Why...Help a...thief...?" He saw her bite her lip slightly and removed her hood from her face. Dresyn's eyes widened when his mind went back to the dryad he had met on the street. She had the same look again, her chlorophyll eyes staring into his, concerned for him. His face beaded with sweat. He looked back down.

"Because you helped me. Even without the use of Charmspeak." Dresyn's eyebrows furroed and he looked at her.

"What do you mean?" She continued to dab his face with the rag.

"The gods and their servants can charmspeak. Yet, you are able to resist it." Dresyn looked at her confusedly. Her tone turned a bit darker. "King of Thieves, tell me your darkest secret." Dresyn felt his lips tremble to tell her, but his mind said no. There was no way he would spill that. She waited for him to answer. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"No." The Dryad smiled.

"See?" Her voice became small again. Dresyn raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You ordered me to..." She nodded. He looked down. She dabbed his face again.

"What is your name, King of Thieves?" Dresyn turned more pale.

"My name is Dresyn." She nodded and continued to dab his face. "Who are you?" She had this mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I'm a dryad priestess." She giggled slightly, which made his heart flutter. Even in this dimal place. "My name is Ayddin." Dresyn was surprised. It wasn't a tree name as he thought it would be. "Maybe, I can get you out of here with less punishment." Dresyn looked at her.

"How?" Ayddin looked in his eyes and started out and going to the guards. Dresyn couldn't hear the conversation, so he hung his head. He heard stomping as the guards came into the small cell. They unlocked his shackles which caused him to collapse on the ground, flat on his stomach. Ayddin ran over to him and flipped him over, seeming much stronger than any kind of human.

A guard grabbed a dagger from his boot and took Dresyn's hand. Dresyn had lost consciousness from the collapse and Ayddin cradled his head in her lap. The guard put the dagger in Dresyn's hand, the blade against his palm. He closed Dresyn's hand around it, pulling the blade across his hand in the wrong direction, cutting into the bone. Dresyn let out a scream, an agonized scream. Blood red seeped from the wound as he pulled his hand to his chest. He whimpered as he lost consciousness again. The last thing he saw, was the white of Ayddin's eyes...

* * * *

When he woke up, he was first surprised by how nice the place was. He was so use to waking to a slum. A small place in the crook of an alleyway. There was a tarp over his exit. This was more elaborate. There were pillars etched in gold. The whole interior was a forest green. He looked around and sat up. His hand was strapped to his chest by means of cloth. He bit his lip.

"Hello?" His voice echoed through the temple. Dresyn heard footsteps echoing in from one of the corridors. He shot up to his feet, ready to fight. He looked around, searching for the source of the footsteps. Dresyn's eyes fell on to the slim figure of another dryad. this one was much shorter than Ayddin and hiding her petite face behind her hood.

"H-how...is-is...y-your...h-hand?" Dresyn relaxed his stance and looked at his bandaged hand and where it was tied around his neck and across his back to under his elbow. He tried to flex his fingers, but they wouldn't move. No matter what he did.

"I can't move it..." The dryad retreated slightly. Then Dresyn realized the tone he had. He looked down immediately, bowing his head. "I'm sorry." She bowed her head to him, starting to back away. "Wait. Where are we? Where's Ayddin? Why am I here?" The Dryad looked up at him, her face solemn as if she was contemplating where or not to tell him. He hated those kinds of people. They were always hiding something.

"Ayddin is in counsel with the goddess Aspen. To keep you here in sanctuary. We are at the temple of Aspen." Dresyn bit his lip, feeling quite isolated. Like the temple was where he was forbidden to be. He clenched his free hand.

"I don't belong here..." The young dryad looking at him, which gave him the thought that she didn't want him here either. "I should leave..." He gathered up his overcoat. But a small hand grabbed his arm, the young dryad shaking her head.

"Lady Ayddin would not be too happy if you left." Dresyn looked at the girl.

"Just tell her that I couldn't stay." The girl shook her head again.

"Please. This is the first time that Lady Ayddin took an interest in someone...human." Dresyn realized that this girl was as scared as he was.

"Alright. I'll stay..."

* * * *

Later that evening, Ayddin finally showed up. Dresyn was playing against the young dryad. And she seemed to be winning. Dresyn had made an exasperated gesture. "Ugh! You beat me again!"

The young dryad giggled and looked up, immediately jumping to her feet when she saw Ayddin. Dresyn didn't know what to do as he got up and turned around. He was surprised at how pale Ayddin looked. She looked like she had had an encounter with a ghost. Dresyn's expression turned to worry.

"Ayddin..." She held up her hand to stop him.

"I'm fine. It's quite exhausting to talk to a god." The younger dryad bowed her head and left. Dresyn watched her retreating figure and felt dread. Ayddin grabbed his shoulder gently, making him jump. "I'm sorry." She immediately looked down.

"What for, Ayddin?" She nodded to his hand, which he sighed at. "Don't worry about that. Please?" He reached up slightly and touched her cheek. He felt her flinch away and he realized what he had done. "Ayddin, I'm sorry. I didn't know..." She shook her head and looked at him with a smile.

"Don't worry." She gently grabbed his hand and placed it on her face. He was surprised at how open she was. Her eyes looked up at him, a more friendly look. He was surprised by the look. "The Lady Aspen said you could stay if you abide by her rules." Dresyn bit his lip.

"What would I have to remember?"

"A lot."

* * * *

Months went by, winter had come and Dresyn had never left Ayddin's side. The thief wasn't exactly him when he was around her. He helped her whenever she seemed to need it. But apparently, most of the gods, with the exception of Aspen, did not like what was happening. Because one day, Ayddin didn't come back from her usual meeting with the gods. As the day turned into night, Dresyn became more worried. He was going to ask her that day to become his wife. He had grown to love her since the day she took his heart. As it got darker, Dresyn went out to look for her. He searched high and low for her throughout the temple. Outside, there was snow falling, something he had not seen in a while.

"Dresyn." Dresyn stopped staring at the snow and turned around, finding Ayddin below him. Though, something was off. She seemed a bit more dark. Especially in her tone and her face. Her color was a bit off.

"Ayddin, there's something I have to ask you..." Ayddin had turned and started to head out.

"Follow me." Dresyn had furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and ran after her. The moon wasn't out that night, so Dresyn followed her blindly. Hours seemed to pass, until Ayddin stopped in front of a large crevice that had been made by the sudden snow. With her head drooped, she looked sad to him. She turned around. "Dresyn...."The expression on her face was pained. He gently touched her face and stroked her cheek. Tears had welled up in her eyes as she looked down.

"Why cry Ayddin? What happened?" Dresyn had a good idea of what it was.

"I..." He put a finger to her lips, noticing how cold she was.

"Let me say something. Ayddin, I love you." He bit his lip, taking her hand and putting his ring on her. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Tears had started to stream down her cheeks. He hugged her tightly. Though she didn't hug him back. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. So sorry." Dresyn held her close, then pulled back. He stroked her face gently.

"There is no need to apologize."

Ayddin whispered, "There's a surprise, look in the crevice." Dresyn kissed her, the first kiss they had and the last semi-warm thing he would feel for thousands of years.

He squatted down and peered down into the crevice. The next thing he knew, he was shoved into the crevice, tumbling to the bottom. The crevice collapsed on him as he let out a yell. What he heard last was a scream; Ayddin's scream. Then everything went black...

* * * *

Thousands of years have passed since the day Dresyn was frozen. the time now is closer to us. He had thawed out, but not completely. His body is still as cold as ice. He doesn't remember that fateful day below the ice. But he remembers Ayddin, his soul mate. And to this day, he searches for her, a slightly lifeless, unloved corpse, waiting for those words...