01-31-2022, 08:42 AM
Malik has not been to the lake since the midsummer night when he’d had his throat cut, keeping instead to the highest of Hyaline’s peaks. He was not hiding, at least not intentionally, but nor had he made any effort to seek out any conversation. His mother had found him a few times, often enough that he was able to empathize with Sickle in an unexpected way.
He’d left home, and now Mazikeen is having another child. Was it his replacement?
His companion had chided him even as the bitter thought occurred to Malik, knowing that it was cruel even to think and that it wasn’t true. Malik had felt an uncomfortable flash of guilt, but refused to meet the blue gaze of the griffin. Years ago, the dark magician had torn the goodness from Malik just as it had torn it from Mazikeen, but his had taken the shape of the iridescent black griffin, the shredded and discarded bits of his soul coming together in a physical shape. Most of the time the iridescent creature act as his conscience.
But that morning Malik had been determined to be bitter despite Birdbrain’s scolding, and stomped his way through the forest early this morning with heavy hooves. It had taken the better part of the morning for the griffin to coax him into a better mood, only for that too to fall away when he reached the water’s edge.
At the sound of hooves, Malik turns, and is surprised to see Bolder moving closer. He’d expected a stranger, not his chestnut cousin and despite his sour mood feels the edges of his black mouth turn up in a smile. “Oh, you know,” he tone more jovial than he feels, “the usual.”
The usual. Bolder will know that for a lie, and perhaps because of the anticipated concern, Malik continues: “Just needed to get out of Hyaline for a while, you know. See the rest of the world. Except apparently it’s underwater now.”
He gestures at the wide expanse, peering for a moment with eagle’s eyes at the far distant orange islands that are the highest of Loess’ red buttes.
@bolder
He’d left home, and now Mazikeen is having another child. Was it his replacement?
His companion had chided him even as the bitter thought occurred to Malik, knowing that it was cruel even to think and that it wasn’t true. Malik had felt an uncomfortable flash of guilt, but refused to meet the blue gaze of the griffin. Years ago, the dark magician had torn the goodness from Malik just as it had torn it from Mazikeen, but his had taken the shape of the iridescent black griffin, the shredded and discarded bits of his soul coming together in a physical shape. Most of the time the iridescent creature act as his conscience.
But that morning Malik had been determined to be bitter despite Birdbrain’s scolding, and stomped his way through the forest early this morning with heavy hooves. It had taken the better part of the morning for the griffin to coax him into a better mood, only for that too to fall away when he reached the water’s edge.
At the sound of hooves, Malik turns, and is surprised to see Bolder moving closer. He’d expected a stranger, not his chestnut cousin and despite his sour mood feels the edges of his black mouth turn up in a smile. “Oh, you know,” he tone more jovial than he feels, “the usual.”
The usual. Bolder will know that for a lie, and perhaps because of the anticipated concern, Malik continues: “Just needed to get out of Hyaline for a while, you know. See the rest of the world. Except apparently it’s underwater now.”
He gestures at the wide expanse, peering for a moment with eagle’s eyes at the far distant orange islands that are the highest of Loess’ red buttes.
@bolder