Lain

Lain is the slash ship between Lief and Dain from the Deltora Quest fandom.

Canon
Dain makes a cameo in Book 4 of the Deltora Quest series and gets introduced in episodes 18 and 19 of the anime. His first proper debut in the books is during Book 6, The Maze of the Beast.

Lief first encounters Dain during the 11th Rithmere Games, where he was with Doom. This is only brief and he comes and goes within seconds, this builds up to his formal introduction in later chapters.

After Rithmere, the next time Lief encounters Dain is during The Maze of the Beast arc - where Dain was tracking Ols that were following Lief and his companions.

At this point in time, Dain decides to tag along with Lief, Barda and Jasmine - forming a friendship between the four.

During Return to Del, Lief goes to rescue Dain, only for Dain to reveal that he, himself was an Ol in disguise working under the Shadow Lord.

In the anime, Lief and Dain battle one-on-one and in the books, Doom assists Lief in taking down Dain. Ultimately, Dain dies by Lief's hands and is left as a puddle of goo.

Fanon
It's under speculation that Lief may of had romantic feelings for Dain, as he's quick to believe Dain still has some "human" left in him during episode 48. When Dain reverts to his old personality to trick Lief, he falls for it and genuinely believes that Dain still has some humanity left inside him.

It's also speculated that Dain might have had feelings for Lief in return. Aside from the soft/fond looks Dain gives Lief in the anime and manga, there is little to back this up, though.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * In the 6th book, when the Belt of Deltora and Dain get stolen, Lief always prioritises Dain over the Belt. Showing his affection for him.
 * In episode 45, Lief remarks that Dain must've gotten his "kind eyes" from his mother. Complimenting him.
 * The fanart used for this page is done by artist Eden Leicester, who draws quite a bit of Deltora Quest fanart.