I watch the city burn, these dreams like ashes float away...
Lilitha glanced up at him, a little startled at the way those words seemed almost like a question. Time had indeed passed, and she tilted her head, studying him. She kept right on studying him as his eyes flashed and he growled, as cold swept forth from him, as Singe’s eyes went wide and she shied back against Lilitha, mouth falling open in a tiny scream that hiccupped fire out of her mouth before she choked it back and clamped her jaws shut and scurried to hide at Lilitha’s flank again.
“It’s okay, baby,” she crooned, stepping to shield the girl with her body just enough that Singe quieted and clung to her side without turning into a complete shaking, shivering wreck. But her eyes were still all for Ruan. “I’ve got you, love. Nobody’s gonna hurt you.” Her voice was soft, gently lilting to calm her girl; she wasn’t optimistic enough to hope it’d have a similar effect on Ruan, but at least she hoped it was modulated enough to keep from making things worse.
“Six years,” she agreed, still with that gentle tone meant to soothe the fur at the back of his neck, ease the chill in the air that made their breath fog and made little tongues of flame want to dance along her skin for warmth. “Taiga has begun to recover, and since the plague hit I’ve been doing my best to keep Taiga safe. We don’t have many people, not yet. Most everyone’s fled to the lands the fairies claim are safe.” But he knew how much stock she put in the fairies and their word.
Her home meant more than their empty promises.
...your voice I never heard, only silence.