i am the mace, the map, the fall and the high
The restlessness should have ebbed, but it never seems to leave his bones. In the quiet pre-dawn hush, when he has little else to occupy his mind, he has begun to wonder if it ever would. For all his command of the past, present, and future, he still struggles to determine such things. Perhaps if he devoted a lifetime to it, spending his time trying to untangle the threads crowding his mind, he might finally understand. But he has neither the patience nor the will to commit so deeply.
Instead he bows beneath the relentless gnawing for more. Giving in has always been far easier than resisting. With impatient strides, he crosses the boundary of his kingdom. He has no destination in mind, but wherever he ends up, he is certain he will find something. Anything to temper the wildness, if only for a moment.
Dawn has long since broken the horizon when he arrives. He had finally determined where he was going by the time he was more than halfway there. The ruins stretch before him, desolate and eerily silent. He had investigated when the first appeared, though he had not lingered long then.
There had been too much weight in his chest then for him to truly give it the attention it deserved.
Now though, he feels compelled to continue forward. He can feel the shudders of death and pain that coat this place, but it does not stir any hesitation. Rune, who had been following overhead, shrieks his displeasure before swooping to land on the jutting bone of Reave’s hip. His stride dips beneath the weight, but he easily compensates for it in the next step.
He can feel how much the place disconcerts his companion, but he refuses to allow the bird’s whispers to dissuade him. Instead he flicks his tail hard, the strands snapping across Rune’s feathers, silencing large raptor’s grumblings. Rune is welcome to leave if he doesn’t like it, though Reave knows he will not. His companion would never risk it, and a very small part of Reave is grateful, even if he would never admit it. Besides, Rune already knew.
@Aubergine