And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying,
'Come and see.' and I saw.
***
One of the four beasts saying,
'Come and see.' and I saw.
***
Time balanced on the knife-edge of calamity. Of course the flower maiden wouldn't believe him: he wouldn't have believed himself, but for the warm familiarity of the Tarrasque's mind nestled against his. He had questioned her judgment and scorned her hospitality, however soundly he could defend his actions. But they had no time to compare evidence or check sources, for even at that moment the beast's puzzled restraint wavered before the temptation of Florentine's frantic wingbeats.
Cats are killers. They stalk, they disembowel, they hunt when they have no need of it. If the forgotten world were any indication, then the only measurable difference to speak of between cat and Tarrasque was the scale of their destruction.
Why wasn't she landing?
Instead, the golden girl fluttered out of reach, scarcely more than a moth on the wind from his helpless vantage point. Ruth's head tilted, tracking her flight with mechanical precision. Raymond could hear her incredulously shouted reply, but only just.
Florentine swooped back toward where he stood, and as she did the rolling thunder of the titan's purr fell abruptly silent. The connection at the edge of his consciousness vibrated like a taut bowstring; he felt rather than saw the dilation of her pupils, the bunching of mighty muscles beneath her iron skin. The jagged eruption of serrated teeth in her mouth were permanently fixed in a gruesome rictus that grinned with anticipation at the pegasus sweeping low into her reach. "Stay back, Flora!" he warned, but she was coming in too quickly now.
Ruth, don't -
The titan batted his command aside as easily as she would have the one who commanded it. The maiden paused, fixed in mid-air by the ancient monstrosity's oh-so-familiar eyes, and the taut bowstring snapped at last.
A single clawed hand swung toward the young mare, more eager and playful than bloodthirsty, but even a curious shark can kill. Raymond watched helplessly as the creature he twice thought was dead swatted its own savior out of the sky like a stray bit of parchment.
Cats are killers. They stalk, they disembowel, they hunt when they have no need of it. If the forgotten world were any indication, then the only measurable difference to speak of between cat and Tarrasque was the scale of their destruction.
Why wasn't she landing?
Instead, the golden girl fluttered out of reach, scarcely more than a moth on the wind from his helpless vantage point. Ruth's head tilted, tracking her flight with mechanical precision. Raymond could hear her incredulously shouted reply, but only just.
Florentine swooped back toward where he stood, and as she did the rolling thunder of the titan's purr fell abruptly silent. The connection at the edge of his consciousness vibrated like a taut bowstring; he felt rather than saw the dilation of her pupils, the bunching of mighty muscles beneath her iron skin. The jagged eruption of serrated teeth in her mouth were permanently fixed in a gruesome rictus that grinned with anticipation at the pegasus sweeping low into her reach. "Stay back, Flora!" he warned, but she was coming in too quickly now.
Ruth, don't -
The titan batted his command aside as easily as she would have the one who commanded it. The maiden paused, fixed in mid-air by the ancient monstrosity's oh-so-familiar eyes, and the taut bowstring snapped at last.
A single clawed hand swung toward the young mare, more eager and playful than bloodthirsty, but even a curious shark can kill. Raymond watched helplessly as the creature he twice thought was dead swatted its own savior out of the sky like a stray bit of parchment.
***
Raymond
And at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the man comes around.
Raymond
And at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the man comes around.
@
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