The smile ached, striking along a nerve the bard had thought already numbed by past mourning. He bowed his head, stunned at both the unexpected strength of emotion and humbled by the reassuring warning. It was no easy thing, to have the eyes of gods upon his actions. Such was the danger of calling attention to himself, for stakes he could only imagine a fraction of. But to find a place where he belonged, a purpose worth devoting himself to... for that, he would dare much.
He looked up in time to see the rags flutter away, much to Isuma's peeping dismay as she wriggled out of Jigano's arms and hopped after the vanished tendrils of cloth and shadow. The words were a sobering reminder that all his good intentions and the sincerest of promises might mean nothing if the blight wormed too deeply into his bones. He had not thought he had much farther to fall until this. Now... now, it seemed, there were depths not previously dreamed of to which he could still descend. His life was in danger...
And he had some decisions to make about who, if anyone, he should tell. Rory, yes. But the rest...
He did not know.
Rising slowly he bowed to the now-empty Shrine and called Isuma back from her search for their lost medic. He smiled tiredly down at the gryphlet, then began the journey home. His hands still shook, but there was a straightness to his spine that had been missing for weeks. He had work to do, regardless of the corruption coursing through his veins.
And miles to go before he slept.
He looked up in time to see the rags flutter away, much to Isuma's peeping dismay as she wriggled out of Jigano's arms and hopped after the vanished tendrils of cloth and shadow. The words were a sobering reminder that all his good intentions and the sincerest of promises might mean nothing if the blight wormed too deeply into his bones. He had not thought he had much farther to fall until this. Now... now, it seemed, there were depths not previously dreamed of to which he could still descend. His life was in danger...
And he had some decisions to make about who, if anyone, he should tell. Rory, yes. But the rest...
He did not know.
Rising slowly he bowed to the now-empty Shrine and called Isuma back from her search for their lost medic. He smiled tiredly down at the gryphlet, then began the journey home. His hands still shook, but there was a straightness to his spine that had been missing for weeks. He had work to do, regardless of the corruption coursing through his veins.
And miles to go before he slept.
