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.
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