Would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home.
Wheels spun in Bane’s head. He panted in the dirt and let his wings settle gently by his sides, wondering what sort of ‘help’ Lepis had dredged up in her desperation to finally have him. Then he laughed.
“You were always so worried.” Wolfbane smiled through his teeth and relaxed in the sand. “I always came back to you, didn’t I?” He turned his head away. The sunlight overhead danced across his blue markings, flashing. He knew Lepis could hold him in her spell, but for how long? Instead of taking the bull by the horns she was stalling, and he didn’t like it. Bane flexed his shoulders and braced against the willpower of a Queen; nothing gave and he frowned.
His thoughts started to turn chaotic so he breathed deeply, reasoning the same way Never did: that just lying here and healing would win out over Lepis’ mental and physical strength, once he could stand of his own volition. Wolfbane breathed in the clay of the earth and waited, remembering in an instant everything that had passed here. Most vividly, the first sight of Lepis and the look in her eyes when her world had changed forever because of him.
In the next second his ears flicked and Wolfbane’s expression soured, hearing the approach of another horse that had turned and come whipping through the canyon base. Neverwhere’s hooves clattered in a deafening echo, and Bane watched with his legs tucked closely as her arrival sent a cloud of dust into the air. She appeared in a fury, healthier and more grisly than Wolfbane had ever seen, getting his full attention when the white mask of her face twisted itself into a misshapen sneer.
Someone had come after all.
“I guess Lilliana was right -” He went to taunt the Nerinian mare, stopping short when his duplicate suddenly appeared next to the dirty brown horse. What was this? He thought with a look of disbelief. What was she playing at?
Wolfbane watched as the false imitation of himself shifted, opening his mouth to shout "No!" the instant Nev's hoof rose from the ground, but the blow came quicker than he could react and he watched the wind get knocked out of the dummy horse - clear from it’s lungs in a gust of air - as the real Wolfbane whipped his head around, sucking fresh wind back through his pointed teeth with a snarl.
Blood, bright and profuse, swelled from Never’s inflicted wound and ran down his duplicate’s hind leg. Together they all watched while the wound sautered itself and closed. Very neatly, nearly instantly. It was a magic the cursed stallion hadn’t expected, throwing him off-guard.
“You had better kill me this time.” Bane growled, done with the theatrics and games after Nev’s little show. He forced his forelegs out from underneath him and made as if to stand, but the ground trembled unexpectedly. His eyes rose, flashing, to see a wall of smoke rising from the south. The quaking was the sound of escape from thundering hooves: horses were fleeing Loess en masse.
Wolfbane looked back at the mares and thought again about what Lepis had said, shuddering. He’d underestimated her determination, it seemed. Perhaps he always had. As Ghaul strode out from the smoke and ash gathering around, Bane couldn’t even find it in himself to play amused. He lay quietly and looked intently at Lepis, breathing in the acrid smell of ruin.
"Wolfbane," Ghaul sentenced the shape-shifter, "Loess burns in exchange for your head."
Prostrate on the ground, Bane’s hair began to turn gray from the soot gathering in it, yet the light from the blaze outside the canyon walls still managed to give him a menacing glint. His mask shifted from the dancing flames, though his eyes themselves were gleaming and steady.
"I’ve claimed my prize and now," Ghaul paused, spreading his wings as a gavel, "they will have their payment." The verdict fell, guilty.
Wolfbane’s black heart thudded once, and then he bared his teeth and lunged for Ghaul.
“You were always so worried.” Wolfbane smiled through his teeth and relaxed in the sand. “I always came back to you, didn’t I?” He turned his head away. The sunlight overhead danced across his blue markings, flashing. He knew Lepis could hold him in her spell, but for how long? Instead of taking the bull by the horns she was stalling, and he didn’t like it. Bane flexed his shoulders and braced against the willpower of a Queen; nothing gave and he frowned.
His thoughts started to turn chaotic so he breathed deeply, reasoning the same way Never did: that just lying here and healing would win out over Lepis’ mental and physical strength, once he could stand of his own volition. Wolfbane breathed in the clay of the earth and waited, remembering in an instant everything that had passed here. Most vividly, the first sight of Lepis and the look in her eyes when her world had changed forever because of him.
In the next second his ears flicked and Wolfbane’s expression soured, hearing the approach of another horse that had turned and come whipping through the canyon base. Neverwhere’s hooves clattered in a deafening echo, and Bane watched with his legs tucked closely as her arrival sent a cloud of dust into the air. She appeared in a fury, healthier and more grisly than Wolfbane had ever seen, getting his full attention when the white mask of her face twisted itself into a misshapen sneer.
Someone had come after all.
“I guess Lilliana was right -” He went to taunt the Nerinian mare, stopping short when his duplicate suddenly appeared next to the dirty brown horse. What was this? He thought with a look of disbelief. What was she playing at?
Wolfbane watched as the false imitation of himself shifted, opening his mouth to shout "No!" the instant Nev's hoof rose from the ground, but the blow came quicker than he could react and he watched the wind get knocked out of the dummy horse - clear from it’s lungs in a gust of air - as the real Wolfbane whipped his head around, sucking fresh wind back through his pointed teeth with a snarl.
Blood, bright and profuse, swelled from Never’s inflicted wound and ran down his duplicate’s hind leg. Together they all watched while the wound sautered itself and closed. Very neatly, nearly instantly. It was a magic the cursed stallion hadn’t expected, throwing him off-guard.
“You had better kill me this time.” Bane growled, done with the theatrics and games after Nev’s little show. He forced his forelegs out from underneath him and made as if to stand, but the ground trembled unexpectedly. His eyes rose, flashing, to see a wall of smoke rising from the south. The quaking was the sound of escape from thundering hooves: horses were fleeing Loess en masse.
Wolfbane looked back at the mares and thought again about what Lepis had said, shuddering. He’d underestimated her determination, it seemed. Perhaps he always had. As Ghaul strode out from the smoke and ash gathering around, Bane couldn’t even find it in himself to play amused. He lay quietly and looked intently at Lepis, breathing in the acrid smell of ruin.
"Wolfbane," Ghaul sentenced the shape-shifter, "Loess burns in exchange for your head."
Prostrate on the ground, Bane’s hair began to turn gray from the soot gathering in it, yet the light from the blaze outside the canyon walls still managed to give him a menacing glint. His mask shifted from the dancing flames, though his eyes themselves were gleaming and steady.
"I’ve claimed my prize and now," Ghaul paused, spreading his wings as a gavel, "they will have their payment." The verdict fell, guilty.
Wolfbane’s black heart thudded once, and then he bared his teeth and lunged for Ghaul.
Mood: Dangerous
@[Lepis] & all else, full permission to god-mode this round
![[Image: Wolfbane2.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/601918740845559818/696502662816071770/Wolfbane2.png)
![[Image: 3bCHvj.png]](https://img.nickpic.host/3bCHvj.png)