MELITA
Based on Remi’s judgments and proclamations of their intentions, Melita’s face shifted from contentment and ebullience to a bitter assortment of rancor and regret. Her brows furrowed and her eyes dropped, glancing down at the floor, hands clutching her staff a little harder than necessary (and it seemed to encourage this, humming again beneath her distinction, her palm, her skin). “I don’t want to fight you,” she murmured; the things she fought were monsters and demons, infidels and heathens, false paragons and devious gods. Remi was none of those things – not even an enemy, an adversary, but a friend; one she trusted deeply. Why did he deserve to be sieged upon and against? Hadn’t he seen or experienced enough? This would be so much simpler, so much easier, if her opponent were Kiada (whom she’d willingly blister, maul, and maim), or some other irritating individual. Isn’t this what you signed up for? the back of her mind pronounced, slowly, a cycle of poignant nuances, influential in reality’s brutal image. She’d done exactly that – and the youth wasn’t going to be able to twist and deceive things simply because she didn’t like the outcome.
While she grated against her own senses and ignorance, Fangorn puffed his chest out, proud, at Remi’s compliments. He hissed and growled too, as if to respond about Remi’s own grand manifestations and skills (the manticore shift had been very impressive).
When her eyes shifted back to the alchemist’s, there was only a devilish concoction staring back at her. And she wanted to refuse, to quit, to say no, because she wasn’t going to harm him – but the arrows on her back were conjured flames and breathtaking, tempting, inveigling proportions. “A show,” she whispered back, gathering the slightest annals of a hint; perhaps it could be all a pretense and nothing more. She stepped back several paces, Fangorn following but his gaze clearly confused and muddled – and she grabbed hold of her bow, a fiery arrow, and notched it along the string. “Ready when you are.”
help tonight to split its seams
Give the bruises out like gifts
Give the bruises out like gifts
