Noah stepped forward as bidden, slow and quiet, the snow crunching softly beneath his wool covered, stocking feet. The night air bit at his skin, but the cold didn’t bother him. It was the god beside him that made his heart pound—a presence that felt like the world exhaling, like roots shifting deep beneath the frost. Warmth and biting cold all at once.
He stood shoulder to shoulder with Vi and listened.
And though the words were gentle, they struck him like thunder. You are Forsaken no more. His heart raced.
Noah didn’t answer right away. He looked up. The stars above were the same ones he’d hunted under, prayed under, bled beneath and even as he stood here now, with Vi, quiet had never felt like a gift before. But it did now. Something in him stilled. Something he hadn’t known was still fighting. Still bracing. He felt his heart still its erratic beating, the breath fill his lungs again.
He steadied. As he steadied, Vi’dore stepped from the shadows around the lodge and lowered his head. The unicorn knickered a low, rumbling sound that sounded like a good-bye.
“…Peace,” he said, at last. The word didn’t sit easily on his tongue, foreign and fragile. He looked down at his hands, as if expecting to see the burden still there, etched into his palms. ”I don’t know what I look like without the weight.”
A breath left him, half a laugh, half a prayer. As he looked back to Vi he saw Cordelia for a moment in his vast eyes. Then, after a long pause, he said, voice low. “And if ever you call again—I’ll come.” For Vi would still hold his allegiance. The gos would still be the patron over his life. His prayers would still go to him, the one powerful enough to breathe life into lungs.
He stood shoulder to shoulder with Vi and listened.
And though the words were gentle, they struck him like thunder. You are Forsaken no more. His heart raced.
Noah didn’t answer right away. He looked up. The stars above were the same ones he’d hunted under, prayed under, bled beneath and even as he stood here now, with Vi, quiet had never felt like a gift before. But it did now. Something in him stilled. Something he hadn’t known was still fighting. Still bracing. He felt his heart still its erratic beating, the breath fill his lungs again.
He steadied. As he steadied, Vi’dore stepped from the shadows around the lodge and lowered his head. The unicorn knickered a low, rumbling sound that sounded like a good-bye.
“…Peace,” he said, at last. The word didn’t sit easily on his tongue, foreign and fragile. He looked down at his hands, as if expecting to see the burden still there, etched into his palms. ”I don’t know what I look like without the weight.”
A breath left him, half a laugh, half a prayer. As he looked back to Vi he saw Cordelia for a moment in his vast eyes. Then, after a long pause, he said, voice low. “And if ever you call again—I’ll come.” For Vi would still hold his allegiance. The gos would still be the patron over his life. His prayers would still go to him, the one powerful enough to breathe life into lungs.
noah
let it rain until it floods
let the sun breathe life once more
reborn
let the sun breathe life once more
reborn
