03-13-2020, 07:28 PM
Oriena watched without truly seeing. Her thoughts buzzed an insistent and relentless pressure, like she was on a bad trip, so she mostly ignored the hum of conversation around her too. Aside from the perfunctory welcome Yun said little, which was just as well.
We must be strong.
We are hungry.
Release us, Lady of Sorrow.
An oath was made.
An oath was made.
An oath was made.
Ori rubbed a hand over her face.
She is human.
She is weak. She cannot sustain.
She will break.
She cannot break.
Then blessed quiet. For a while at least. She laughed, tipped her head back in the chair and beheld the dark sky above. Abruptly she remembered bleeding on the ballroom floor, cut off from the one perfect thing in this world, because of him. She remembered his eyes. Fucking hellfire eyes.
Anger flared, and she was not sure if the emotion was hers truly, or a manipulation.
An oath was made. I fucking know.
A wisp of trailing fire caught her attention then, resolving into the form of a dragon that soared and dipped and spiralled above the crowds. She recognised the devilish-grinning face half-glimpsed below. Another time the gall of the spectacle would have amused her, but with the hive splintering her thoughts into a thousand pieces she only felt tired. Her fists uncurled. Her gaze flickered to the woman beside her.
“Does is scare you, Yun? A world in which a man can call fire to the sky with a thought? Such a man might steal your empire from beneath you without even trying. I hope your claws dig deep." A cruel smile hooked her lips, but the words were spoken idly, not in threat. She would have felt if Yun had any power of her own. Once such inferiority would not have interested her, but the scales of balance had tipped since Nikolai Brandon announced himself to the world, and Oriena tipped with them. "Self-styled gods. Not invulnerable, though."
We must be strong.
We are hungry.
Release us, Lady of Sorrow.
An oath was made.
An oath was made.
An oath was made.
Ori rubbed a hand over her face.
She is human.
She is weak. She cannot sustain.
She will break.
She cannot break.
Then blessed quiet. For a while at least. She laughed, tipped her head back in the chair and beheld the dark sky above. Abruptly she remembered bleeding on the ballroom floor, cut off from the one perfect thing in this world, because of him. She remembered his eyes. Fucking hellfire eyes.
Anger flared, and she was not sure if the emotion was hers truly, or a manipulation.
An oath was made. I fucking know.
A wisp of trailing fire caught her attention then, resolving into the form of a dragon that soared and dipped and spiralled above the crowds. She recognised the devilish-grinning face half-glimpsed below. Another time the gall of the spectacle would have amused her, but with the hive splintering her thoughts into a thousand pieces she only felt tired. Her fists uncurled. Her gaze flickered to the woman beside her.
“Does is scare you, Yun? A world in which a man can call fire to the sky with a thought? Such a man might steal your empire from beneath you without even trying. I hope your claws dig deep." A cruel smile hooked her lips, but the words were spoken idly, not in threat. She would have felt if Yun had any power of her own. Once such inferiority would not have interested her, but the scales of balance had tipped since Nikolai Brandon announced himself to the world, and Oriena tipped with them. "Self-styled gods. Not invulnerable, though."