there's always a glimmer in those
Something must have split apart in Oliver, her eyes rounding as she faced him, listening to the softening realms, the guilt-drenched ire, the way the world had shifted and changed again. Or maybe it hadn’t – it’d always been this way, and they’d been too caught up in their frivolity, in escaping LongNight fringes, in evading the plunge of uncertainty, of the wild vehemence of past months, they hadn’t thought it would catch them again. They hadn’t dreamed of their outrageous festival becoming a nightmare. They hadn’t sought out refuge. They hadn’t built up schemes of protection. Last year’s had been a whirlwind of cacophony and light, and this one had ended in blood and bones and death. There was something else laden in Oliver’s speech, not touched or parsed through, and in her tired, aching ferocity, she whispered into the void. “What happened?” What had occurred? What had the monster been? Why had it crept into their world? All she could recall was the blinding glimpse of ice and mud and stone, whipping through the air, demolishing, sacrificing children into its sanctity.
Melita could hear Sunjata’s answer, probably far more careful – assisting with recovery efforts, once she’d fully mended, once she’d healed from their latest catastrophe. She’d probably start on the additions to the walls too, which sunk into her heart, which coated over threshold (Aoife, little giggling Aoife, some other scattered kids that currently had no faces, no names). “Right,” was a murmur and nothing more. No comments on hell – she’d been there before. At least the Rift had always informed everyone of exactly what it was – Caido disguised itself in pieces and pockets of serenity, before ripping away all the seams.
Melita could hear Sunjata’s answer, probably far more careful – assisting with recovery efforts, once she’d fully mended, once she’d healed from their latest catastrophe. She’d probably start on the additions to the walls too, which sunk into her heart, which coated over threshold (Aoife, little giggling Aoife, some other scattered kids that currently had no faces, no names). “Right,” was a murmur and nothing more. No comments on hell – she’d been there before. At least the Rift had always informed everyone of exactly what it was – Caido disguised itself in pieces and pockets of serenity, before ripping away all the seams.
who have been through the dark
MELITA
