They didn’t learn. It almost shocked her how quickly they forget the lessons they had been taught. She’d taken their power, had stopped time, had reminded them time and time again that their power and their lands were a gift. They were her lifeblood though, and they drained her, bit by bit. It was no different than a broken bone or a missing piece of skin for them.
They bickered and fought and in the end, they relied on magic to do their dirty work. Oh, and how dirty it was. Vindictive and cruel on all sides, and she was done. There was no need for this. No need to rip each other to shreds when they should be working together, when they should be building Beqanna up. Beqanna had kept so much of the outside away from them, had kept them safe. No more.
She appears briefly in the middle of it all and the sky turns dark as she does. She is fully black today, in mourning for the land that was once such a beautiful place. ”Enough.” Her voice rings across the land, clear and impossible to miss. There is no more from her though, no explanation. They no longer deserve it.
The magic that keeps them safe drops away. The trees wither, the grass turns brown beneath their feet. In the distance, the ocean boils.
”Run,” she says. For those who are not close enough to hear, she sends the message again, sent like an arrow into their thoughts, their minds, the word bright and blaring.
Under its surface, an undersea volcano - ignored and unacknowledged - awakens. The surface of the water puckers, then bulges outward, a strange and terrifying mix of water and magma, an explosion set to do what they could not: to end things, once and for all.
They should run, but she doesn’t remove the wall. Let them deal with their own follies. Let them figure out how to save themselves.
They bickered and fought and in the end, they relied on magic to do their dirty work. Oh, and how dirty it was. Vindictive and cruel on all sides, and she was done. There was no need for this. No need to rip each other to shreds when they should be working together, when they should be building Beqanna up. Beqanna had kept so much of the outside away from them, had kept them safe. No more.
She appears briefly in the middle of it all and the sky turns dark as she does. She is fully black today, in mourning for the land that was once such a beautiful place. ”Enough.” Her voice rings across the land, clear and impossible to miss. There is no more from her though, no explanation. They no longer deserve it.
The magic that keeps them safe drops away. The trees wither, the grass turns brown beneath their feet. In the distance, the ocean boils.
”Run,” she says. For those who are not close enough to hear, she sends the message again, sent like an arrow into their thoughts, their minds, the word bright and blaring.
Under its surface, an undersea volcano - ignored and unacknowledged - awakens. The surface of the water puckers, then bulges outward, a strange and terrifying mix of water and magma, an explosion set to do what they could not: to end things, once and for all.
They should run, but she doesn’t remove the wall. Let them deal with their own follies. Let them figure out how to save themselves.