03-23-2017, 07:55 PM
The fire had stopped burning her. Months ago, now, not terribly long after Lilitha’s failed attempt to cross the border into Taiga, the waves of sweet agony that had accompanied use of her fire for so long had finally deserted her. Still, she hadn’t quite managed to make herself try again. Even knowing it was coming, it had hurt too damn much not to be able to cross into her one-time father’s home.
Still. Winter had raged on after her curse had ended, and finally given way to spring, and the new season was halfway gone before Lilitha managed to steel herself to try again. Now, standing just outside the border once again, Lilitha stared into the promised land she’d been banished from, not by her father or his king but by the land itself. Utterly still, barely even breathing, she just stood, golden eyes surveying the edge of the forest that had been forbidden to her for so long.
She’d been so small, still an innocent even with all she’d lost and gained and stood to lose again. Three years and more had passed since the day she’d watched her father and his family walk away, held back from joining them by Beqanna herself. All because she’d stood up for the man she’d come to love, the only person up til then who’d ever given a damn about her. So tiny, to have her heart broken again. But the world was not a gentle place, nor a merciful one.
So small, she’d been so damn small the last time she’d seen him. Awkward and leggy and as delicate as she’d ever been. But the years on her own had matured her. Her body had grown tall and broad, limbs thickening, hooves widening and lower legs feathering a bit to display draft blood that certainly had not come from her dam. Her sire must have been a large man, whoever he was, and his blood must have run strong in her. All she’d gotten from her dam, so far as she could recall, was the red of her hair and the gold of her eyes. Thick muscle, broad frame, the darkness of her coat, the dam she barely remembered had not been responsible for any of it.
The thick, jagged scars where she’d once had wings, those were all her own. Hell. All of it was all her own. No sense laying parts of her on a man she’d never met and a woman who hadn’t had it in her to care about the girl she’d given birth to. Lilitha had been on her own for a long time. Might as well lay claim to all of herself.
Taking a deep breath, Lilitha admitted to herself that all this dwelling on things that didn’t matter anymore was just to put off the inevitable. The moment where she had to try one more time, one last time, to cross the border into Taiga. If Beqanna wouldn’t let her now that her curse had broken somehow, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to try again. Letting the breath out slowly, Lilitha walked forward until she was just one step away from the exact spot where she’d hit an invisible wall last time. Just one more step.
You can do it.
Still. Winter had raged on after her curse had ended, and finally given way to spring, and the new season was halfway gone before Lilitha managed to steel herself to try again. Now, standing just outside the border once again, Lilitha stared into the promised land she’d been banished from, not by her father or his king but by the land itself. Utterly still, barely even breathing, she just stood, golden eyes surveying the edge of the forest that had been forbidden to her for so long.
She’d been so small, still an innocent even with all she’d lost and gained and stood to lose again. Three years and more had passed since the day she’d watched her father and his family walk away, held back from joining them by Beqanna herself. All because she’d stood up for the man she’d come to love, the only person up til then who’d ever given a damn about her. So tiny, to have her heart broken again. But the world was not a gentle place, nor a merciful one.
So small, she’d been so damn small the last time she’d seen him. Awkward and leggy and as delicate as she’d ever been. But the years on her own had matured her. Her body had grown tall and broad, limbs thickening, hooves widening and lower legs feathering a bit to display draft blood that certainly had not come from her dam. Her sire must have been a large man, whoever he was, and his blood must have run strong in her. All she’d gotten from her dam, so far as she could recall, was the red of her hair and the gold of her eyes. Thick muscle, broad frame, the darkness of her coat, the dam she barely remembered had not been responsible for any of it.
The thick, jagged scars where she’d once had wings, those were all her own. Hell. All of it was all her own. No sense laying parts of her on a man she’d never met and a woman who hadn’t had it in her to care about the girl she’d given birth to. Lilitha had been on her own for a long time. Might as well lay claim to all of herself.
Taking a deep breath, Lilitha admitted to herself that all this dwelling on things that didn’t matter anymore was just to put off the inevitable. The moment where she had to try one more time, one last time, to cross the border into Taiga. If Beqanna wouldn’t let her now that her curse had broken somehow, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to try again. Letting the breath out slowly, Lilitha walked forward until she was just one step away from the exact spot where she’d hit an invisible wall last time. Just one more step.
You can do it.
@[Romek]