***
Calliope was not amongst the horses trapped within the walls when the tsunami hit. He almost wanted to breathe a sigh of relief for the fact but, knowing her, the unicorn was in far more dire straits than these and loving every moment of it.He steeled himself. There was no way to protect her here, now, when he could not even begin to guess her whereabouts, and she of all horses knew how to take care of herself. There were other things that needed doing now.
Ducking into an alley, he beckoned a cluster of huddled denoctians from their shelter with a tone that brooked no argument. "Take shelter in the keep," he urged them, knowing that a structure that had stood as long as that would at the least have a good roof overhead and be mostly beyond the reach of weather. He only hoped that it was beyond the tsunami, too, but wet ankles were preferable to wet everythings.
Systematically he searched the court proper, delegating teams where necessary to ensure even those injured could make it safely to shelter. He recognized only some of the faces hustling by, their brows drawn with worry and bewilderment. Nodding back to the familiar spotted shape of Araxes and ignoring the flotsam drawing blood as it eddied about his unprotected legs, he waded near enough to hail her. "Send them to the keep if they can't make it to higher ground," the red stallion urged.
There was no time to weigh alternatives.
Raymond. He looked north, as though the tarrasque speaking so plainly to his thoughts was only just at his side. Birds. The word carried with it a waiting excitement with which he had once been familiar, far larger now that Ruth herself was not as she once was. It was the excitement of the hunt, the excitement that had swatted Florentine like a moth out of the air. It was predator seeking prey, but the prey she drew for his benefit was no prey he had seen before.
Not birds, but Thunderbirds. And they were flying south on the violent stormfront.
Turning again to address Araxes and the others nearby, he said, "we must shelter as many of the injured and infirm as we can." A burst of color erupted through the link as the hellbeast readied herself to pounce. "We're under attack."
***
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.
aut viam inveniam aut faciam
