and death shall have no
DOMINION
Of course he was the first one to find her. He’d always found her at the end of the world, so it was only fitting that his was the first voice she heard when it began again. “Hello, Tarnished.” She breathed in the scent of the willow, the crisp, clean scent of the snow, and him. “It seems I owe you an apology. I’m guessing it’s been longer than three days.” It had been the height of summer when she’d left for a bit of a wander, some alone time to clear her head. At least six months must have passed since she’d been recruited by Beqanna’s dark god and sent spinning through space and time, facing the vast empty unknown and gods far darker than he.
There was something extremely satisfying in the fact that she hadn’t completed his mission. She’d chased after her dead ancestors, said goodbye to her dead loved ones, and done not a damn thing for the arrogant bastard who had pulled her out of her life and sent her on a quest to hunt down his lady. Maybe that was why so much time had passed, or maybe it was inevitable. Either way, she had broken her word to her friend.
Opening her eyes, she met his gaze, giving him a once-over and noting that he seemed well. “I am sorry, Nish. How long have I been gone? Feels like hours and an eternity all at the same time.” It wasn’t long ago she would have had no idea how that was possible. But a voyage to the end of the world and back would be enough to change even the most adamantly ordinary person’s perception of time, and as far as she could tell it had been forever and just a day or so.
If he wanted to know, she’d tell him. About galloping through space, diving through wormholes, the Devourer, all of it. Even Ben and the kids. The dark god and his mission, the end of another world, and finding her way to this new beginning. She was curious, of course, to see the sky. All her stars had given themselves to save her. What would it look like without them? Still, the sky would be there waiting, and her dearest friend had waited long enough. She walked up to him, closing the distance between them. Kind of wanted to lean into him, feel his solid presence, wrap him up in a giant hug and just breathe him in, but she held back in case he wasn’t ready to welcome her right back just yet.
Oh, fuck it. If he didn’t like it, he’d say so. She hugged him, grinning against his skin. “Would’ve been a hell of a lot more fun with you than it was without you. Next time, I damn well want you by my side at the end of the world. Sorry I left you behind. If I’d had a choice, I would’ve dragged you along for the ride.”
There was something extremely satisfying in the fact that she hadn’t completed his mission. She’d chased after her dead ancestors, said goodbye to her dead loved ones, and done not a damn thing for the arrogant bastard who had pulled her out of her life and sent her on a quest to hunt down his lady. Maybe that was why so much time had passed, or maybe it was inevitable. Either way, she had broken her word to her friend.
Opening her eyes, she met his gaze, giving him a once-over and noting that he seemed well. “I am sorry, Nish. How long have I been gone? Feels like hours and an eternity all at the same time.” It wasn’t long ago she would have had no idea how that was possible. But a voyage to the end of the world and back would be enough to change even the most adamantly ordinary person’s perception of time, and as far as she could tell it had been forever and just a day or so.
If he wanted to know, she’d tell him. About galloping through space, diving through wormholes, the Devourer, all of it. Even Ben and the kids. The dark god and his mission, the end of another world, and finding her way to this new beginning. She was curious, of course, to see the sky. All her stars had given themselves to save her. What would it look like without them? Still, the sky would be there waiting, and her dearest friend had waited long enough. She walked up to him, closing the distance between them. Kind of wanted to lean into him, feel his solid presence, wrap him up in a giant hug and just breathe him in, but she held back in case he wasn’t ready to welcome her right back just yet.
Oh, fuck it. If he didn’t like it, he’d say so. She hugged him, grinning against his skin. “Would’ve been a hell of a lot more fun with you than it was without you. Next time, I damn well want you by my side at the end of the world. Sorry I left you behind. If I’d had a choice, I would’ve dragged you along for the ride.”
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;