"Safrin wants to help it?" Arialla said, more to herself than Gideon, since he clearly seemed uninterested in such a conversation. But looking at the starwhale, she knew that Safrin's help would be for naught if they didn't somehow distract or deter the ghost whales.
She could only think of one way to do that: if she got in the water with her dolphin shift, the ghost whales might chase her instead of continuing to attack the starwhale. The problem was that this fun idea resulted in ... Arialla being chased by ghost whales. She'd seen what they could do, had heard tales of their formidable malevolence. Getting in the water with them would almost certainly kill her.
So that left Arialla with a question: did she care enough about this starwhale to sacrifice her life for it? A few seconds ago she would have said no. But if Safrin considered this a worthy cause ... Arialla imagined having to tell Safrin that she'd had the chance to save it and done nothing. Then she imagined dying. Then she imagined the quite likely scenario in which she died and the starwhale didn't survive anyway. There were three ghost whales, after all; one could chase Arialla and one harry the ship while the third finished off the starwhale.
Safrin might want the starwhale to live, but would she want Arialla to die for it? Beyond that -- did Arialla really have the courage to make herself jump into the water, knowing it would mean her death?
"I can't," she whispered. She'd be willing to risk her life for her goddess if the need arose, but this -- this wasn't the time. Not with such a low chance of success. She couldn't serve Safrin from a ghost whale's belly. "There's nothing I can do."
Feeling a horrible mixture of guilt and relief, Arialla became an eagle and took to the sky again, circling over the starwhale. She might not be able to save the starwhale, but she couldn't help feeling that she owed it to the creature to watch its last moments.
Arialla has a bit of an emotional and religious crisis, but her action for this turn is to return to eagle form and circle over the starwhale, watching for whatever happens next.
She could only think of one way to do that: if she got in the water with her dolphin shift, the ghost whales might chase her instead of continuing to attack the starwhale. The problem was that this fun idea resulted in ... Arialla being chased by ghost whales. She'd seen what they could do, had heard tales of their formidable malevolence. Getting in the water with them would almost certainly kill her.
So that left Arialla with a question: did she care enough about this starwhale to sacrifice her life for it? A few seconds ago she would have said no. But if Safrin considered this a worthy cause ... Arialla imagined having to tell Safrin that she'd had the chance to save it and done nothing. Then she imagined dying. Then she imagined the quite likely scenario in which she died and the starwhale didn't survive anyway. There were three ghost whales, after all; one could chase Arialla and one harry the ship while the third finished off the starwhale.
Safrin might want the starwhale to live, but would she want Arialla to die for it? Beyond that -- did Arialla really have the courage to make herself jump into the water, knowing it would mean her death?
"I can't," she whispered. She'd be willing to risk her life for her goddess if the need arose, but this -- this wasn't the time. Not with such a low chance of success. She couldn't serve Safrin from a ghost whale's belly. "There's nothing I can do."
Feeling a horrible mixture of guilt and relief, Arialla became an eagle and took to the sky again, circling over the starwhale. She might not be able to save the starwhale, but she couldn't help feeling that she owed it to the creature to watch its last moments.
Arialla has a bit of an emotional and religious crisis, but her action for this turn is to return to eagle form and circle over the starwhale, watching for whatever happens next.
Arialla
Freedom. Flight. Grace. Keen-sight.
"Golden Eagle - Mongolia" by carfull...from Wyoming is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
