boy what's normal to you? 'cause that sure ain't normal to me.
He knows his strength is waning. Sweat beads down his neck and face as he focuses solely on the shadows bending and stretching across Tephra. They draw back for a moment, eager to rush to their master’s hesitation, because he fears his creatures are causing more harm than he meant. They are only supposed to chase but he can feel when he loses control, feel their claws and teeth and eyes flicking wildly. He gasps, then screams, then wrangles them away from the scene they have placed in his mind. The darkness remains but the creatures all die with a loud sigh.
When Lie’s knees hit the ground he groans. Exhaustion is clear in the way his muscles roll. He heaves in breath after breath, all the while centering his mind around the remaining darkness he created. Death to the creature but not death to the fight.
Litotes!
The shadows droop a few inches when he whips his head up to look at Dawn.
Traitor!
In an instant he is in his lion form, snarling and snapping and tensed to pounce out of her way. A wicked grin spreads across his face and just as he is about to call out the East’s lack of a stance on the war, a gold and chestnut blur launches between them.
“Kensa!” he roars, stumbling backward as the polar bear rams herself full force into his lover. Both women topple to the ground in a flurry of claws and hooves. Litotes launches himself over his wife’s crumpled body, mouth wide in a vicious snarl. Dawn has rushed backward enough for him to not land on her; still, he stands between the two, body crouching in a pouncing position, tail flicking wildly back and forth. His eyes are hard and cold and unforgiving as Dawn talks - even when he feels Kensa rise behind him, they remain on his Queen with that sword-like steel. He does not care what it is about, though he knows how furious she is with him and not Kensa, Dawn hurt Kensa and that is unacceptable.
Thunder and lightning crackle above. Rain pours onto the battlefield, dousing the warriors and flames alike. Still, Lie remains still between the two, golden eyes narrow and fuming.
“Last I checked, Dawn,” he spits, barely able to contain the frantic energy Kensa’s fall gave him, “The East has yet to take a stance on this war, and Tephra struck first, harming children. At least Loess’ prisoners were not hurt.” The sneer on his mouth is cruel. He tenses for backlash. He rears back, though, when a giant rock creature erupts from the ground. Fear passes coldly through his body until he looks back to flee, only to see Vadar in the distance. Vadar, his ally. A grin returns to his face.
“Kensa,” he calls as he rushes around the creature now furiously swinging its arms. “Run!”
Before he can hurtle into her to get her away from the golem, Castile swoops down and tucks Lie to his stomach. Sorrow and fear flash behind his eyes before Kensa is out of sight, though part of him does not worry for his powerful wife. Hurt or not, he knows she knows how to care for herself.
The dragon grip is tight, and his close proximity to his stomach protects him from an onslaught of ash and wind. Litotes gathers the film of shadows directly below them, coating himself and Castile against the dark sky. They are nearly invisible except for the blast of the dragon’s fire. When the shield begins to break, the manipulator solidifies his darkness and slams it into the barrier along with the fire. They plummet into the opening.
Litotes’ landing is a harsh stumble due to the speed of his drop and his exhaustion from keeping his magic permanently in the back of his mind. Now only a low-level of darkness remains over Tephra. It looks sticky and ominous, clinging to half-burnt tries mounds of ash. The lion pants as he frantically observes what his magic is still doing, chest heaving while his legs bend low to the ground.
Ahead is the main battle: Lie can make out Mary and Sinner, then a golem, then . . . Starsin? She is leaning over Ophanim’s crumpled body. The Archon gulps and leaps in her direction, concern for her pain prevalent in his face. Ophie is bloody and broken beneath a tree, and the cremello has absolutely no idea what to say to Starsin. While unaware of the nature of their relationship, Litotes still cares for whoever Starsin cares for. He only looks at her painfully before creating a thick ribbon of shadow and wrapping it around the angel boy’s throat. It solidifies and ties just tight enough to attempt to hold the blood back. Not permanent, but it may hold for a few minutes.
Castile is in the middle of dethroning tweedle dee and tweedle dum when Lie turns back to the crowd fighting behind him. Adrenaline rushes back into his veins, renewing the strength he quickly depleted. The golem swings its arms and just as Lie is about to bound into their fray, a wave of soil and branch and rock rushes toward Castile hovering just above. Lie is caught in the edge of it, a sharp rock slicing across the right side of his face. The lion cries out in pain and blood rushes down his face and mats his mane. Enraged, he turns to find the creator of such a force and finds a stallion with his legs in the ground. Without hesitation, the Archon snarls and sneers and launches himself at the manipulator. He aims to land on the stallions back and tear at his flesh with tooth and claw, but a side swipe would be enough if he has the sense to move out of the way in time.
and if i fall would you know that to do?
and if i'm caught up would you stay?
tldr;
Lie tries to protect @[Kensa] and then yells at @[Dawn] until the golem appears and tries to destroy everything in sight
@[Castile] picks up Lie and lie makes them invisible and then shoots his darkness down to break apart the shield
Lie wraps solidified shadows around @[Ophanim]’s wounds and stares at @[Starsin] dramatically
The side of lie’s face is cut open but the soil wave and then he adrenaline rages on @[Aziz]
