Tal didn't stop stabbing until the thing stopped moving and Boreal had lit it on fire that not even the rain could quench.
Which was about the time he realized that her fire was coming from someplace other than right in front of him.
His vision swam, shifting in and out of focus as he reoriented on a... chair??? where his dragon had been. Except now she was pushing her broad head up under his hand and leaning hard against his hip, and Tal dropped to his knees in the mud to wrap his arms around her, feeling a shiver that had nothing to do with cold run through him.
Noah's voice was both distant and nearby as the courier turned his head, cheek still pressed to Boreal's pale scales to peer up at the demigod as Noah stepped around him. His throat squeezed closed on his first words; one look at the demigod's face was enough to reveal that the older man hadn't seen what Tal had; hadn't felt it, a lie as real as what had struck him on the Sea of Dreams, and at that thought the courier jerked as if stung and thrust himself to his feet. One hand stayed on Boreal's shoulders as the pair dashed inside, gasping, and leaving the rest of the furniture to Noah.
"Alys?" he called, a frantic note clinging unflatteringly to his voice. "Alys, are you okay?"
He felt a fool when he saw her hard at work in the Temple, and his neck and ears flamed bright red. "I... sorry. It's just..." He trailed off, ducking his head away fromAsra's gaze as he slunk past the woman and her gryphon to join the seer in the main room.
He gave his friend a grim, wild-eyed look as he silently set to helping her get the room set up, afraid to speak in front of the others for fear of looking crazy even as he kept throwing uneasy glances over his shoulder, as if expecting another tangleweed to jump out at any moment.
Tal freaks out and then helps Alys in setting up the main room for patients.
Which was about the time he realized that her fire was coming from someplace other than right in front of him.
His vision swam, shifting in and out of focus as he reoriented on a... chair??? where his dragon had been. Except now she was pushing her broad head up under his hand and leaning hard against his hip, and Tal dropped to his knees in the mud to wrap his arms around her, feeling a shiver that had nothing to do with cold run through him.
Noah's voice was both distant and nearby as the courier turned his head, cheek still pressed to Boreal's pale scales to peer up at the demigod as Noah stepped around him. His throat squeezed closed on his first words; one look at the demigod's face was enough to reveal that the older man hadn't seen what Tal had; hadn't felt it, a lie as real as what had struck him on the Sea of Dreams, and at that thought the courier jerked as if stung and thrust himself to his feet. One hand stayed on Boreal's shoulders as the pair dashed inside, gasping, and leaving the rest of the furniture to Noah.
"Alys?" he called, a frantic note clinging unflatteringly to his voice. "Alys, are you okay?"
He felt a fool when he saw her hard at work in the Temple, and his neck and ears flamed bright red. "I... sorry. It's just..." He trailed off, ducking his head away from
He gave his friend a grim, wild-eyed look as he silently set to helping her get the room set up, afraid to speak in front of the others for fear of looking crazy even as he kept throwing uneasy glances over his shoulder, as if expecting another tangleweed to jump out at any moment.
Tal freaks out and then helps Alys in setting up the main room for patients.
