He knew better than to doubt the Triennial, which had even said that Avdotya was deceitful. It knew better than him, it always had.. but he never thought that the mare would end up attempting to murder the majority of Solterra for something these residents did not do. She was ruthless, but he hardly expected her to be stupid.
And now, he was left here, caught in between. He had few loyalties to Solterra, if he was honest... but he did not have another place to go in Novus, let alone outside of Novus. Denocte was certainly out of the question, and he knew too few people in Terrastella and Delumine to tell if that was a considerable option for him. And he hardly had any loyalties to the Davke - what little he knew of them. All in all, a sour taste was left in his mouth, fermenting and disgusting and aggravating.
So he stood, atop a small outcropping to the south of the Court, watching everything unfold. This was not his fight - not today, probably not tomorrow even.
And just as he was about to turn away and head towards the canyons where he spent most of his time, he saw something... something black and white. Ears twitched up hastily, and his eyes strained to see if it was what he thought it was...
A knot roiled in his gut. What was the colt doing there? Let alone in the middle of a massive, bloody uprising? And why was he just standing there?
The Triennial eye snapped open in that split second, frantically flitting every which way - until it, too, locked on Tor's young progeny.
"Damn it all," came the snarl from the Warden's lips, and haunches coiled tight as he lunged off of his perch. Hooves carried him swiftly across the land, toward the Court and where his son stood, the beat of his hooves sounding like a wardrum in his ears.
The minutes it took him to cross the patchy land felt like hours. He nearly lost his footing as he careened around a corner of one of the walls, colliding with a body of someone unknown, toppling them to the ground. He had hardly the time to figure out if they were friend or foe, his eyes searching for only one thing: Siavax.
And eventually, his eyes settled on him - scared stiff among the assailants, as one stood in front of him, anger and vengeance slathered across their features.
Sweat soaked his hide as hooves dug into the ground and shoved off, muscles straining to push him faster towards the two. There was some semblance of morality in his actions, a small flicker that would astound most - and even himself, if he was honest.
"SIAVAX!" came the bellow, hoarse and deep. "RUN-" was the command, seconds before Tor slammed into the would-be assailant head-on. Sweat-soaked skin met skin as the Warden and the unknown attacker clashed, teeth and anger and rage boiling over. Tor felt his mouth flood with the other's blood - maybe his own, as well - even as the other's hooves and teeth ripped into his own skin. But the Warden did not stop. Not until the other found a moment of relief between the attacks, and took that moment to flit away from the Warden.. maybe to go and lick his wounds, maybe to prey on someone more easily taken advantage of.
Tor did not care anymore - for the second the other was gone from his sight, the Warden turned to his son. Not waiting, not caring that the young boy was nearly paralyzed in fright, Tor crossed behind him, pressed the bloody and sweat-soaked side of his barrel against the back of his son's haunches. He shoved the young boy, who stumbled forward and then looked back at his father, confusion blurring his features.
The massive beast of a stallion crossed to his son's side, body pressed alongside the smaller boy's frame as he forced him forward and away from the fray. "I said GO," he snarled, his voice low.
It was only then that he would see young Siavax's mind snap-to, and the boy would listen to him. It was only then that Tor was able to lead him away from the blood-soaked sand of the Court, towards the sands of the Mors that have never seemed so inviting.
Action. Thoughts. "Speech."
In and out ;D
↤ Reference Image - - chest cavity: CLOSED - - code Ⓒ inkbone ↦
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I have three eyes
TWO TO LOOK ONE TO SEE
