E I K
he remembers what god whispered into his ribs--
He thought he was alone here. It was stupid thought- there was always someone else at the oasis. Maybe it was more like hope. He
hoped he was alone here. Anyway it was stupid to hope, too.
(stupid, stupid, stupid)
Eik's magic had never been pushed this far before. It was at the verge of sputtering out completely, and if it did-- he was not positive it would come back. He sorely needed rest.
The last several days, spent on the road, had been slow going and exhausting. He had used his magic to regularly scan the surrounding area for strangers. He avoided them when he could, and when he could not he flexed his magic to make himself unremarkable to their minds. Their eyes skimmed over him without recognition, seeing but not
seeing. And so with the exception of a girl at the edge of the Mors,
Sabine, he had not revealed himself to anyone. He was not yet sure who he could trust here. His friends were (to his knowledge) safe and far away in the neighboring kingdoms, with the exception of Bexley Briar, whose circumstances eluded him.
It is a world where "hunt or be hunted" no longer applies-- Eik is both.
To his surprise it is a child at the water's edge. At first she doesn't see him standing at the opposite side of the pool, draped in moonlight. He backs up slowly, but she looks up before he can disappear among the date palms. He freezes, struck by her eyes. She does not have a child's eyes.
(He remembers the eyes of Apolonia and Sabine. Are there children in this world anymore?)
"
What are you doing here. Where are your parents."
Oh, he hates his heart sometimes. He hates it now, and the way it keeps him here in concern for the girl instead of vanished into the night. But he thinks his heart might make the difference between himself and his ghosts, so as much as he hates it-- he embraces it, too. Like a man pushing his neck into the executioner's blade.
(stupid. stupid.
stupid.)
------
@Evangelina
