[private] Kensa;

[Castile]

and underneath the layers, I find myself asking what's left
a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was

He cannot resist the temptation to see her again, to pull the cords of her conscious and steer her from Solace and Kagerus’ vision. Her appearance in Tephra said a lot. It surprised him to draw in a breath and notice the undertones of her scent amid the smoke and mayhem. He could have found her, addressed her, but he only saw her in passing when he scooped Litotes into his embrace and sprinted toward the magician’s barrier. Leliana’s portals abducted each of them and hurled them into different places in order to conclude the madness that destroyed her home. Castile eluded the portals to grab his youngest sister and carry her home.

There has been minimal time to recover, but it doesn’t prevent Castile from making the short trip to Hyaline. Only his wings are draconic as he soars above the mountain peaks that separate their homes. Hyaline, as ever, brims with life especially with the return of their Queen from Tephra’s war.

Battered, bruised, and tired, Castile descends sluggishly close to the heart of the territory where the lake glistens diamond-like in the sunlight. Memories flash across the backs of his eyelids each time he blinks until he forces their suppression. Kensa, not far – perhaps soon concluding her loud announcement to the people – will have sighted him by now (not that he made an effort to conceal himself). Taking a sip from the lake, he waits patiently for her arrival while retracting his wings, exposing the lacerations across his sides and the dried blood and dirt accompanying them.

castile