who we are and all that we're trying to be
His gaze went from Morgan, and to the gild-laden unicorn – a beast of the mountains – something he would always cherish, honor, and respect. A nod was extended in turn to the equine, and Zuriel managed another accompanying whinny.
Her scrutinizing glance didn’t go unnoticed, only the slightest arch of his brow, a similar expanse accompanying warriors, battlefield tenacities, penetrating, piercing stares to ascertain who was braver, who was tougher, who was stronger. If he were still some king of his summit, he might have raised his chin in defiance; here, he was only amused, bending forward to grab hold of more logs, placing them with an echoing thump into the wagon. In truth, he’d always be some part of war hymns and dragoon strains, honed directly into his blood, into his heart, into his lungs, without chains or torment. Reflexes, muscle memories, inherent, primordial designs, etched and sketched into every muscle, every fragment, every inch of scarred lines and tenacious existence.
“More or less,” he responded at first, ax felling another portion of the log, splitting it in two, the pair following the same pattern as the others. It wasn’t much of a militia, mostly a volunteer basis, those willing to step forward and put themselves in harm’s way for the greater sake of their home. But the subject slipped to Rexanna, and the careful composure of his guard twisted back along his countenance. There’s had been a reversal of roles, though he’d never be stealthy or gifted in discourse to become a Thief of the Penumbra’s caliber, but he followed her lines and orders, complied with commanding dictations. The urge to protect someone he considered a part of his family, no matter what kind of blood flowed through her veins now, rendered and corded, a certain reticence skimming its way over his form. Careful, precise, the arch to his brow not fleeing. “Yes.” A pause as he threw in more wood, wondering just what the finality of her statement meant. “What have you heard?”
It takes dying to know
How to live as ghosts
