DAWN
i just killed off what was left of the optimist in me
In the midst of chaos, nothing goes as planned.
A horse – a Loessian – slips into the pits of the volcano, but she doesn’t notice in her headlong rush to stop Lie. Dragons clash in midair and screams fill the air as winged horses dive to and fro, and a man plunges into the volcano to try and save his young son – none of this is noticed by Dawn. She only has eyes for the cremello-turned-rogue, and suddenly there is a golden blur between her and her target. A scream of her own rips from her bear’s lips as she tries to pull away, recognizing her dearest friend: Kensa.
It is too late, however, to stop her forward momentum, and she barrels into the hardy little mare, gasping as her much heavier body crashes into Kensa’s with her entire strength behind it. They collapse to the ground, a tangle of bear and horse, and she scrambles backward as carefully as she can, lest she accidentally put a hideously sharp claw into her friend’s hide. No, no, no, no, no, she thinks as she backs away and a look of pure terror fills her eyes, praying to any gods who will listen that she did not, could not have hurt her friend.
The bear melts away as quickly as it had come, leaving the tall golden mare trembling before the two of them, her fury quickly replaced with dread. “Kensa, I-I’m so sorry,” she whispers over the screams of the dying battle around her, coat darkening with nervous sweat as her sides heave. “You weren’t supposed to be here, be there. This isn’t about you, this-this...” She trails off, finding herself unable to continue. She spares Litotes a glance, her eyes momentarily darkening, before fixing her gaze back on Kensa. How hurt is she?
This was never about Kensa, or hurting her – this was about the East, and protecting their allies. Protecting their allies, not aiding their enemies. Friends with their members or not, Loess is the enemy. That’s all she knows. It’s all she can think as her panic threatens to overwhelm her and she takes another step away, suddenly unable to meet either of their eyes. She just wants to be a good queen, with loyal followers, and it seems she’s going to lose both of her biggest allies tonight.
