[open] It is the nature of dreams to end // pq help needed

[Warlight]

Warlight

Soul as sweet as blood red jam

Lilliana, the copper names herself, A friend of your mother, she confirms. Warlight nods. Droplets of water fall like cut topaz from her lips, illuminated by the glow of a near-by lava stream. The midnight-dark never reached this part of Tephra; the volcano kept the world suspended in a false-twilight that would linger well past dusk's appointed hour. She wades a step deeper, letting the water kiss the bruises that will never be seen, spread in a lacework across her side and down her legs. Some lay just under her skin, and some seem to have roots - wrapping around her bones and making the touches of loved ones unbearable. But as the healing water numbs the tender places around her knees, at least for a little while, and her eyes grow a little more alert. 

What did you ask for?

A far off night-bird wakes and its two-beat cry echoes in Will's moment of hesitation. "Come wade with me," she says, moving away through the pool. The waters lap higher, reaching her belly, and luring her deeper with promises of relief.  "The water will heal any little aches or pains you may have brought with you."

She halts once the water is washing over the hollow of her back, turning again to face her companion and answer the question. "I asked for the ability to cancel out other's traits," she admits, feeling the sting of some unnamed emotion. "I'm a fighter, but my skills are useless," she continues, feeling the need to justify her decision. "I could train every day and still lose a battle to a yearling with a touch of magic."

It's a bitter admission.

"My antlers and all my training would be worthless against half of Beqanna." She tries to keep the bitterness from finding its way into her words, to remember that she is working to change the hand that fate dealt her.  "I don't want to match them, I don't want some strange and terrifying power. I want to enter a battle and know that the winner will be decided by strength and speed, teeth, and hooves."