DEIMOS
He shrugged at the first insinuation again – fully aware of the depths of threatening efforts residing within the woods, had once tried to chase down those who’d been taken, wandering and wandering, spit back out to where they’d begun. Only when Arduinna had advanced upon them, leading their efforts into the woods, into the village, had they ever had a chance (and they all still owed her a favor – which could be treacherous or benign). Then there’d been the blighted Undine, the dancing Naiad, and the fire woman, a series of circumstances hastened along the forest, the canopies, the brush and bramble. The beckoning, twisting unknown could’ve been a malignant press into their presences, into their flesh and bones; but he still wouldn’t have allowed it to conquer, to devour, or for them to succumb. He allowed the oath to billow there, out in the void, even if it was resisted.
The beast’s gaze remained on the kitsune, watching as fur bristled into butterflies, ascending into canopies, where they’d rest until the illusion wore off – until they seemed to snap into the abyss almost at once, gone, gone, gone. Then his eyes followed back to Loren, a brow arched only out of curiosity and why the traces had faded and diminished so quickly.
Topics shifted, peeled away, nothing of chimeras and hallucinations, of trickery or deceitful conflagrations, back to militia, back to munitions, arms, and capabilities, those who could be recruited. He said naught of the alternating subjects, but rose back up to his full stature and height, bolstering ranks, daring the earth to take up weapons again, after Zariah had ordered, demanded, and commanded them to fill in the empty barracks. The world balked, the realm resisted, except for them, standing there amidst the forest. But this wasn’t Helovia, and he couldn’t go out to a threshold, to a clearing, where portals rankled and extended newcomers or strangers into their midst and immediately take them to a preferred kingdom (what are your talents? he used to ask those who settled into the ice and rime, meandering in those clustered ranks of crafting, healing, sneaking, or wielding). “I wonder if they need to see us in action.” Be inspired? Unafraid of what they could offer? Proffer a chance to try their hands? He’d held training sessions with Wessex, Kiada, and Jyon, with a few scarce others interested or intrigued, but they’d pilfered away too, and he frowned slightly; their situation relatively damaged simply due to drafts and ultimatums seasons ago. “If there is something we can do to implore them to join.” Lead some defensive measures to bolster the world for LongNight? “Maybe we can ask for assistance in preparing places for Long Night. You could lead something at the Manor,” since it’d already been offered to those at the last meeting, “and I can do the same in an alternative location.” Maybe the Artisan’s Guild; for those who didn’t want to be aligned with the Launcelyn’s manifested claws.
The beast’s gaze remained on the kitsune, watching as fur bristled into butterflies, ascending into canopies, where they’d rest until the illusion wore off – until they seemed to snap into the abyss almost at once, gone, gone, gone. Then his eyes followed back to Loren, a brow arched only out of curiosity and why the traces had faded and diminished so quickly.
Topics shifted, peeled away, nothing of chimeras and hallucinations, of trickery or deceitful conflagrations, back to militia, back to munitions, arms, and capabilities, those who could be recruited. He said naught of the alternating subjects, but rose back up to his full stature and height, bolstering ranks, daring the earth to take up weapons again, after Zariah had ordered, demanded, and commanded them to fill in the empty barracks. The world balked, the realm resisted, except for them, standing there amidst the forest. But this wasn’t Helovia, and he couldn’t go out to a threshold, to a clearing, where portals rankled and extended newcomers or strangers into their midst and immediately take them to a preferred kingdom (what are your talents? he used to ask those who settled into the ice and rime, meandering in those clustered ranks of crafting, healing, sneaking, or wielding). “I wonder if they need to see us in action.” Be inspired? Unafraid of what they could offer? Proffer a chance to try their hands? He’d held training sessions with Wessex, Kiada, and Jyon, with a few scarce others interested or intrigued, but they’d pilfered away too, and he frowned slightly; their situation relatively damaged simply due to drafts and ultimatums seasons ago. “If there is something we can do to implore them to join.” Lead some defensive measures to bolster the world for LongNight? “Maybe we can ask for assistance in preparing places for Long Night. You could lead something at the Manor,” since it’d already been offered to those at the last meeting, “and I can do the same in an alternative location.” Maybe the Artisan’s Guild; for those who didn’t want to be aligned with the Launcelyn’s manifested claws.
i'm in the mood to dissolve in the sky
