Alix and her friend Kallie, as well as two soldiers, are in a temple under the sea.
Kallie captures a ghostly pirate, while Alix uses the Whirlwind of Wonder to cut down three more pirates.
When suddenly they encounter a Krazoa Spirit.
"Alix daughter of Lindir, before you advance, mind watching what would happen if Stormwolf did not find you?"
"Yes. It gives me motivation to fight for them."
The soldiers cover the girls as they watch the story.
I fled Homana-Mujhar on fleet horse and fleeter need to escape the blackness in my soul. That I had a demon in me I did not doubt; I could feel it within me, clawing, gnawing, shredding the interior of my belly. I shouted orders to the guard and clattered out of the cobbled outer bailey and through the wide front gates even as they were shoved open. Free of the outer curtain wall, I spurred through winding alleys and streets, ignoring the shouts of passers-by. Never an indifferent horseman, I took negligent care to avoid trampling anyone, and therefore no one went down beneath my stallion’s iron-shod hooves
Kallie: Yes! Fight back!
The thing is, while Niall is clearer headed, the problem still remains. He still feels strangely empty and naked, and like he needs something very badly that he can't describe.
But at least now, he has the wherewithal to hunt for food. He and his horse go deeper into the woods, for enough days that his beard starts to grow in and his horse starts growing his winter coat.
...and no one's actually LOOKING for him? Donal? What are you doing?
Alix: I was apparently too dead to spank him.
I have known grief in my life, much grief; I recalled how it was when I had believed my brother dead, but I have never known, have never imagined what it would be like to lose a lir. It was as if a man had thrust a hand through flesh and gristle and bone to grasp my heart; grasping it, he wrenches it from my chest and throws it aside, leaving me both alive and dead. Alive because I do not die; dead because everything within the fragile shell of human flesh is dead, so infinitely dead. How does a man live like this?
How can a man survive?
He does not.
Alix: I want to give him his will to live back.
A wolf. Male. Silver-gray, with green-gold eyes, and a mask of deepest charcoal.
He sat down. He sat. And his tongue lolled out of his mouth.
“You are a—lir?” I croaked aloud.
I am Serri. I am yours. I have been empty so long, so long— Suddenly he rose, approached, butted his head into my shoulder before I could scramble away. I am filled—I am filled—my spirit and soul are complete—
Kallie: Awwww!
stared at the tooth. “Lillith,” I said aloud. “Lillith, Alaric—Gisella—” And I knew what they had done.
What they had made me do.
My hand spasmed. Fingers shut over the tooth. Tightly, so tightly; the tooth bit into my flesh. “Oh gods—Deirdre…they have made me slay them all!”
Alix: What Lilith and Alaric did to Niall and Gisella was awful. And what they made Gisella do to Niall. And Donal sends his sister to Alaric just like that.
At her own instigation? Perhaps not. Perhaps she, as much as I, was a puppet caught in the tangle of strings pulled by Lillith and Alaric. I thought she lacked the wits and concentration to make or carry out such plans.
And yet it had been Gisella who had ensorcelled a lirless man.
A man who was lirless no longer.
Kallie: Now he can stand up for himself.
Alix: Looks like things will stop being fucked up at a point... and when it happens, I want to see the Dark One's face!
I always find ways to make characters spork
Kallie captures a ghostly pirate, while Alix uses the Whirlwind of Wonder to cut down three more pirates.
When suddenly they encounter a Krazoa Spirit.
"Alix daughter of Lindir, before you advance, mind watching what would happen if Stormwolf did not find you?"
"Yes. It gives me motivation to fight for them."
The soldiers cover the girls as they watch the story.
I fled Homana-Mujhar on fleet horse and fleeter need to escape the blackness in my soul. That I had a demon in me I did not doubt; I could feel it within me, clawing, gnawing, shredding the interior of my belly. I shouted orders to the guard and clattered out of the cobbled outer bailey and through the wide front gates even as they were shoved open. Free of the outer curtain wall, I spurred through winding alleys and streets, ignoring the shouts of passers-by. Never an indifferent horseman, I took negligent care to avoid trampling anyone, and therefore no one went down beneath my stallion’s iron-shod hooves
Kallie: Yes! Fight back!
The thing is, while Niall is clearer headed, the problem still remains. He still feels strangely empty and naked, and like he needs something very badly that he can't describe.
But at least now, he has the wherewithal to hunt for food. He and his horse go deeper into the woods, for enough days that his beard starts to grow in and his horse starts growing his winter coat.
...and no one's actually LOOKING for him? Donal? What are you doing?
Alix: I was apparently too dead to spank him.
I have known grief in my life, much grief; I recalled how it was when I had believed my brother dead, but I have never known, have never imagined what it would be like to lose a lir. It was as if a man had thrust a hand through flesh and gristle and bone to grasp my heart; grasping it, he wrenches it from my chest and throws it aside, leaving me both alive and dead. Alive because I do not die; dead because everything within the fragile shell of human flesh is dead, so infinitely dead. How does a man live like this?
How can a man survive?
He does not.
Alix: I want to give him his will to live back.
A wolf. Male. Silver-gray, with green-gold eyes, and a mask of deepest charcoal.
He sat down. He sat. And his tongue lolled out of his mouth.
“You are a—lir?” I croaked aloud.
I am Serri. I am yours. I have been empty so long, so long— Suddenly he rose, approached, butted his head into my shoulder before I could scramble away. I am filled—I am filled—my spirit and soul are complete—
Kallie: Awwww!
stared at the tooth. “Lillith,” I said aloud. “Lillith, Alaric—Gisella—” And I knew what they had done.
What they had made me do.
My hand spasmed. Fingers shut over the tooth. Tightly, so tightly; the tooth bit into my flesh. “Oh gods—Deirdre…they have made me slay them all!”
Alix: What Lilith and Alaric did to Niall and Gisella was awful. And what they made Gisella do to Niall. And Donal sends his sister to Alaric just like that.
At her own instigation? Perhaps not. Perhaps she, as much as I, was a puppet caught in the tangle of strings pulled by Lillith and Alaric. I thought she lacked the wits and concentration to make or carry out such plans.
And yet it had been Gisella who had ensorcelled a lirless man.
A man who was lirless no longer.
Kallie: Now he can stand up for himself.
Alix: Looks like things will stop being fucked up at a point... and when it happens, I want to see the Dark One's face!