I watch the city burn, these dreams like ashes float away...
Lilitha was far from surprised to learn that little Singe was terrified of thunder. The tiny filly clung tight to her side, tucked away cozy in their little sheltering cave. Lilitha loved the wild rush of a good spring storm, the crash of thunder overhead, the blinding flash of lightning striking nearby. Singe though was scared out of her wits. Lilitha tucked her closer against her side and snuggled her with a gentle brush of her velvet-soft nose against the baby’s snakeskin-patterned skin.
“Shh, baby, it’s alright. Nothing to be scared of, sweetheart, I’m right here. I’ve got you, baby girl, it’s alright,” she crooned, keeping up a soft litany of reassurance interrupted by more flashes and crashes and rolling booms outside. Singe clung to her, tiny body shaking and completely silent, tears trailing down her face. She rubbed them off on her new momma’s side and hid her face against black fur, bat wings tucked tight to her sides and curling around herself just a little for comfort. Poor little love.
A voice called out from somewhere outside their little cave, and Lilitha wasn’t entirely sure she’d heard him right through the fall of rain and the echo of rolling thunder. “In here!” she called, leaving it up to him to come find them and repeat himself if he was really trying to talk diplomacy right now. In the middle of a bone-rattling thunderstorm. “We can talk inside!” she shouted back again, not willing to leave her scared little girl long enough to hunt the man down and coax him to take shelter with them.
She fussed over Singe a little more while she waited, nuzzling her gently and pressing a soft kiss to the side of her neck. “It’s okay, sweetie, the thunder won’t hurt you. You’re safe here.” And if the man accepted her invitation, she watched him come in with curious gold eyes, head tilted just a little at his strange timing. Now? Really?
“Taiga is protected,” she answered him. “And Taiga is free. She will not be claimed; she is a haven for the people who live here, and she will not bow or swear allegiance to anyone. Who are you, that you ask so boldly? If you or yours seek to make a claim on this land, know it will not go uncontested.”
...your voice I never heard, only silence.