They don’t listen. Of course the don’t, more the fools they. Instead, they dig in their heels. She would have done the same, it’s true. But in games like these, it always comes down to who wields the most power. The time for negotiation has passed. It is clear they would not be swayed from their course, and Leilan and Castile only waste their breath.
But Bruise, he does recognize her, and a poisonous smile stretches his lips. Her own gaze darkens dangerously, but he is not clever enough to notice. She can feel deft fingers tugging at old chords, plucking a tune that stirs not just fear, but rage. She stiffens, head jerking upright as murderous intent fills her blue gaze. He is seconds from death and he is too stupid to realize.
Around her, the world begins to fall apart.
She lashes out at him, gaze narrowing until the only thing that matters is erasing him from existence. He could run or die, she didn’t care. He would know what fear tasted of.
Anything that was fool enough to stand in the wave of destruction she punches towards him would deserve what came to them. The only thing that draws sanity back into her consciousness is the arrival of Briella. She whips her head around towards the girl, her protective instincts instantly coming to the fore. As the dust settles, she steps closer to the child, leaning protectively over her as her eyes dare anyone to make a move.
And… Dovev?
She barely has time to think, her head beginning to swirl beneath the onslaught of presences. The fear tangles with delirium as words begin to wash over her. Then another, a magician, a small, still sane part of her thinks. And as the fear lessens, that incredible fury rises to take its place. They would come here, to her land, make threats upon her people. It is untenable. They could all die, for all she cared.
She had warned them, hadn’t she?
Blood trickles from her nose, dripping onto the ground. Staining the snow red. They had said it would look pretty in red. They could see it painted in the color if that was their wish. And she thinks that must be their wish.
She had warned them, after all. She does not give warnings twice.
Perhaps it is the delirium or the rage, or some combination thereof, but even Brennen’s calming influence cannot soothe the inferno they had unwittingly stoked. Briella is here, and she must protect her at all costs. With a growl, she steps forward, eyes alight with the anger and the fevered delirium bubbling to the surface, fueling the inevitable explosion.
And their words of intolerance are the match that lights the flame.
Leave or die.
It is with an almost concussive force that the power escapes her, draining every ounce of her reserves along with it. The snow and ice and earth around them shatters into dust, bringing with it anyone fool enough to stand in its way. Perhaps, if he hadn’t stoked the fear in her breast, it might have been different. Perhaps, if the sickness hadn’t stroked fingers of delirium across her consciousness, it might have been different. But it hadn’t.
As the dust billows around her, she nearly falls to her knees. A cough wracks her too thin frame, and she tries to piece together her thoughts through the chaos. Dovev had been here. Briella.
Briella.
She turns and stumbles. She had to find her. Dovev had tried to extract her from the chaos. Hadn’t he demanded she come? She couldn’t remember. She stumbles forward, nearly falls. Forces herself to continue, leaving the rubble and chaos behind her. Let them sort it, what did it matter? They were dead, weren’t they? Did it matter?
“Briella,” she whispers, the hoarse sound stirring the rattle in her chest, sending her into another fit of cough. Blood spatters the ground before her.
Paint it red, they said. She had.
i see your sins
and i want to set them free
