resurrect the saint within the wretch
He feels as though he’s drowning - his chest is heavy and barely moving despite the desperate need for air to fill his lungs. He closes his eyes momentarily, the vision seared into his mind and still vivid behind closed lids. When he opens them he is looking through the canopy, through the forest, and into the night sky, where the stars twinkle and a half-moon greets them solemnly.
Lilliana speaks with an eloquence that he struggles to find. Perhaps it is because even though she can feel the emotions and memories that wrack him, the second-hand experience gives her a clearer mind. He glances to Leonidas, wondering what would become of the star once the eclipse happened - would he disappear like in his vision? Or would he remain in Beqanna, clinging tightly to the tendrils of Lilliana’s mane?
That familiar weight holds him tightly, cold, and unforgiving. He exhales in a shuddering sigh through clenched teeth, turning his ivory face towards Lilliana again. Once again he is powerless in his knowledge; there is nothing he can do to prevent the oncoming wake of disaster. It reminds him so much of the plague but he had only been a child then. Now he is grown and the ominous truth remains the same: he is powerless.
“Thank you, Lilliana.” His voice is not strong - it is not heavy as it normally is and seems to tremble, one moment away from breaking. “Truly.” She offers him her assistance because that is all she can do for, like him, she is also powerless. Her next words point to a suggestion that Warden had yet to think about. He visibly stiffens, turning from her after a brief moment of realization. The bones in his wings bend as he stretches the feathers out from his sides, readying himself for flight. He swallows hard, all of the sadness and grief and guilt is written obviously on his face. “Not yet,” he replies, not needing for her to finish her thought to know what she was thinking. He turns his face upwards to the forest canopy, once again looking to the stars.
“Not yet.” He repeats, though he knows that the coming days will mostly be filled with them as darkness and demons crash all across Beqanna.
@[lilliana]
