"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
The trek back from the Mountain isn’t as sluggish or as mentally tormenting. She isn’t left wondering what is – or isn’t - going to happen. Everything is done. The waiting is over.
A smile flashes across her wild face as the world hums underneath her fingers. It churns at her will, bows at her disposal. The missing puzzle piece has been filled and she hums with the pleasure of being restored to her true self. This, this is what she has been craving these last couple of years.
Its return is sweet on her lips.
But not half as sweet as her spiteful revenge.
Nerine is back in eyesight before she knows it. A cruel smile tugs at the corners of her mouth as the sand rises and swirls like a riptide. There is a roar as the world comes to life in a way that it never has before. The sand twirls around its Queen while she walks steadfast toward the cave that once crooned her name on many a night. But it doesn’t stop there. Rocks, boulders, granite all rise to the occasion, raging around her with a wind billowing her unruly locks. The debris – the earth of Nerine – follows her so obediently until she stands in front of the mouth of the cave. It yawns open for her and she can see the obsidian within and the hints of glowing algae that creeps along the walls. A heartbeat passes and she sees the beauty that lies within. This had been where he slept, where he lulled himself at the rhythm of the ocean.
Where he devoted himself as best he could to her, albeit weak and vague.
Where it all began.
A brow lifts as her head turns to regard the swirling mass of sand and rock. A quiet order and it shifts into something more solid, more precarious. Its size is immense, its power unmatched as it takes on true form and looms toward the cavern.
Then, the world quakes.
There is a screaming of tumbling granite and the whoosh of air and power. There is crumbling and crushing and destroying, all while Nayl placidly watches.
And then there is a cloud of dust when the destruction has ceased. It curls around her legs and cradles her as lovingly as a child with its mother. Silently, Nayl admires what has come of her power. The cave that he once so dearly treasured is destroyed, his home abolished at the flick of her eyes. She turns her cheek to search for any prying eyes, but then her attention flickers to the beast she made from Nerine’s resources. Her head inclines as she regards her own handiwork. It edges closer to her, absorbing her energy, but just as it reaches to embrace her, it disintegrates.
Everything becomes still and tranquil again.
With a relieved sigh, Nayl takes one final glance to the cave. ”Goodbye, Stillwater,” she murmurs before turning her back and admiring how the sun gleams off the ocean’s restless surface.
It does not take her long to decide to seek out the leader of this land. If she is going to make it her home, she should get to know it's residents after all. And that starts with Nerine's queen.
Fortunately, she is not difficult to find her. Not even remotely. Even if she did not have her unique sight to guide her, the rise of rock and earth would tell her all she needed to know.
It is simple enough to find the trail, to find the black and white mare at the center of that maelstrom. The cause of such wanton destruction.
Heartfire understands destroying things. She had destroyed many things in her return from that far away realm where she had reigned as queen. Where she had lost love. But pain subsides and storms inevitably die. Her own had eventually, leaving behind the cool, polished mare making her way towards the center of a newer storm.
It takes her only a moment to discover to the source of her destruction. The name whispered into the ether helps too. It is ironic really, that she should happen to know if this particular fellow. Not because she had personally met him, but because she has a habit of keeping tabs on her family, including her youngest sibling.
It seems she and her sweet, innocent sister have something in common after all.
”Impressive,” she says as she eases alongside Nerine's leader. Her eyes skim across the ocean before coming to rest on the black and white woman. ”Did that particular cave do something to offend you?”
heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
She didn’t expect to be seen, but she couldn’t have expected to go unnoticed as she destroyed a cave with an earthen monster borne of the land. It hadn’t crossed her mind, as it was clouded by her spiteful nature and irrational anger. All she saw – all she cared to know – was that his memory was demolishing right in front of her.
There’s an air of satisfaction that resonates her while underneath the bright, winter sun. Dust curls around where the cave had been and rolls out to her, slithering around her legs like snakes. For a moment, Nerine is deathly silent. An eeriness cradles her surroundings, until a set of footsteps echoes into her ears and pulls her attention from the collapsed cave.
The mare is a stranger in which Nayl initially bristles toward. Beneath her forelock rests an icy stare that pierces into Heartfire, calculating who she is. She doesn’t send her away, however, noting the humor in her voice. A lopsided grin toys across her lips while her eyes soften just enough to reflect her appeal in the jest. ”I didn’t like the way it smelled,” she finally states with a roll of her shoulders, tucking a majority of the truth away into her fortified mind. The scent, she muses, did reek of Stillwater which she grew sick of, so in truth, she wasn’t lying.
A brow quirks as she regards the stranger more closely now, breathing her in to smell much of Beqanna and its forests. ”I’m Nayl, and you?”
Destruction of that magnitude is something impossible to hide, even from those with a sight weaker than Heartfire's. Of course, for the pewter mare laced with white, pretty much everything is impossible to hide.
Still, she is surprised that this particular feat had not attracted a larger crowd. Were she anyone else, she might think this a common sight for the lack of audience. But she knows better.
She offers her own smile in response to Nayl's faint grin. Just a slight tipping of her lips that demonstrates her amusement at the dry humor she had offered. ”I will be sure to wash daily then.”
She turns her gaze, surveying the rubble as dust continues to settle around them, lips curled in that mild grin. She only looks back at her companion when she continues, offering her name and asking after hers.
”Heartfire. I suppose you could say that I am new here.”
That might be a bit of an overstatement, even if she had not acquainted herself with the land already. In truth, she had more than simply familiarized herself with the land. She had also familiarized herself quite thoroughly with its residents and history.
She has never been one to allow herself to be taken by surprise.
Neither has she been one to share overly much. Though if asked, she has nothing to hide. She might collect secrets like coin, but, like coin, they are easily exchanged for the right price. In some cases, that price might even be as simple as trust, especially when one wishes to make a situation permanent.
heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
