.....Grief......

......Madness......

.....Numbing emptiness......

.........Ultimate suffering........

........Raging anguish..........

....and......Despair......

These are emotional states I would wish upon no man, because I feel them even now as I write this missive.
I cannot even begin to construct within my mind when or how it happened, but at some point after I had left Cheyenne...she......:: Tear drops stain the stationary::..she was attacked by one of the vile beings called BloodSpeakers. When I appeared in the walls of the arena, horrifying scene was being played out before my eyes. There on the floor with a ghastly wound in her side lay my beloved Cheyenne, Bapheloctus was kneeling over her praying to Ixiom to heal her, Anne was applying bandages to the wound.

I was beside Cheyenne in an instant, my hand enveloping hers, my voice calm and soothing as I tried to keep her from slipping into consciousness and away from me forever. Had I know what would happen next I would not have wasted my breath. A vince began to grow from her wound, covered in sharp thorns and slithered it's way to her throat.

The others began to attack the vien, keeping it from strangling the life from her. They should not have wasted their time. In the midst of the confusion Daigotsu appeared from the shadows and assaulteed Cheyenne's spirit in the middle of bing healed. The pendants I had given her for protection were gone, taken from her in the fight that wounded her so greviously. The BloodSpeaker's spirit flew into Chey's body, casting her spirit into Hell...and forever from my reach.

With a condescending smile and cold laughter he faded from the arena, letting Cheyenne change into a creature of his designs. I could only kneel and watch in horror as Cheyenne's beautiful blonde hair became black as a raven's feather and her sparkling blue eyes became brown like freshly trod mud. Though her wound was healed fully, I knew it was not my Cheyenne whose hand I held...but someone else...someone who would not know any of us....that someone was Kiara NightMyst.

I felt inexplicably cold as her brown eyes gazed upon me without the slightest hint of registration at my name or the name Cheyenne. My breath started to come in sharp gasps as the shock of what was happening began to register in my emotions. I was starting to hyperventilate. I felt the blackness of unconsciousness creeping towards me as I started to rock back and forth on the balls of my feet uncontrollably. My eyes wide and unseeing, my face blank of emotion.

I was unaware of everything that was going on around me and felt my body move of its own accord into an empty corner. I knew that there was no cure, magical or otherwise, for her amnesia....I was helpless....

To no longer know the feel of Cheyenne's touch nor the sound of her voice made my very sould wrench in agony. To never hear her laugh or tease me in the way tha tonly she could made me weep for all I am worth.

The plans I hade made for my future here in Rhydin have been shattered and I have nothing left to keep me here...I have only three choices left to me...

One....go into Hell and try and restore Cheyenne to her former self and most likely die trying

Two...seal myself away within the Keep and live out the rest of my days alone with my grief..becoming bitter and resentful of the world..

Or....

Three......Kill myself.........

Cheyenne has become to valuable a part of my life to easily forget as I once could have. She has softened the stone heart I once had and filled the cracks with creepers of affection and caring....No matter what I choose...the man I am now is no more....and a monster I may become....
:: The missive was left with a guard at the gates of I'Taurn and within Sylus rooms at the Keep::

It was pure chance alone that made Artemus' missive catch my eye. I was preparing to return to Kelvar and was gathering a few things needed for the journey. As I moved into my bedroom I saw the letter sitting on my pillow, my name etched in his flowing script.

Giving into my curiosity I walked forward and opened it. The bearing of his soul set me reeling, for this was a side of my brother I had never seen. Even when we were children he displayed a cold logic and callous disposition towards all things. It was as if a great shadow had been instilled in him at birth. His dimeaner was always that of a reserved tryrant. He had always killed without compunction and lost no sleep over it, no matter who he had slain man woman or child, but now...someone had come along and cracked his stony facade and melted several layers of ice from his heart. Cheyenne had done what I thought was impossible and now it appears she is no more.

I cannot begin to know or understand the pain my brother must feel but I know someone who does. Alais will know how to approach Artemus and help him with his grief, though I cannot. I had thought the sleep of purity would be his greatest test in this world but I was wrong. The kind of suffering he is being put through says clearly to me how good of a man my brother is despite his outward look and feel. For only the truly good people of this world suffer as my brother is suffering now..

Moving as fast as he could, Artemus raced after the animal but couldn't begin to match it's speed and the Unicorn seemed to leave no tracks at all. The only sign of its passing was the continuous white streak speeding off into the distance.

After several mile he had to stop and catch his breath as he entered a small clearing. Kneeling gently he at for a while and let his thoughts shift onto the Unicorn....."why was it that he had seen it?......the only time anyone has ever seen a Unicorn is when it wanted them to....unless?....naw " He tossed away the thought that had come to him with out a thought to it....he had not served the goddess of the forrests in many years...he had all but turned his back on her.....there was no way she could want him back into her fold.....could there be?

He had just rissen when the scent of orchids came to him.....HER scent. He looked around with wide eyes...."Miel.l....Mielikki?....." his voice had a stunned undertone that was masked by his sense of wonder and awe as he knelt once again in the grass.

A form shimmered in front of his eyes, forming from a swirl of butterflies and light. "Yes...Artemus....it...is I.."Her voice had a light and musical lilt as almond colored eyes regarded him calmly. She moved forward, not even bending a blade of grass with her steps "Though you have turned you back on me.....I have not turned mine on you...." Her white dress glimmered in the fading sunlight and Artemus could see that it was made of flower petals. With a gentle welcoming smile she knelt down and touched his face. Her light, chestnut colored hair making the tanned skin of her face glow, radiating her beauty. "You were my most loyal follower.....I would not let you go without a fight.....the loss of your mother hurt you....and you needed time for your heart to heal.....I gave you that and nothing more..." Before he could react tears came to his eyes and he let all the pain and tears he had been holding inside his heart go.

There in that small clearing, wrapped in his goddesses caring and patient embrace, Artemus Allon Kurgen wept. For his mother...For Cheyenne.....For himself....