Shepherd’s End
Autumn 20, Year 1019
At the edge of town, the waves crash loud against the well-worn bluffs, casting salt and foam high into the night air. Kaisi lies on his back in the thick grass atop the cliff above the spray. Hands behind his head with one leg crossed over the other. His shirt blows open in the gusty wind, exposing the brightly glowing magma lines that run sharply over his ribs and across his torso. He breathes deeply, trying to slow his heart rate. It’s not the proximity of the sea that’s raised it this time. He closes his eyes and the moments flash through his mind.
Her silhouette, tall and strong, in front of the vast ocean… The vast world.
His approach. No other direction was possible. He would follow her over the edge.
What did he say? He remembers speaking… Three words.
Three words before the fall. Not forwards over the edge. But back…
Her cool skin pressing hard against his as she lands in his embrace.
He can feel her sorrow… Her deep despair. Only for a moment, before it’s harnessed and focused into rage.
She looks up, and they lock eyes. His glassy and bright. Hers wide and dark, only the thinnest rim of gold visible around the pupils. He lets out a small chuckle with a half smile. Seemingly unaware of the next move. But he needn’t know it.
She leads the dance. And he follows.
She is the ocean in his arms, furious and staggering, merciless in her strength and hissing at the touch of his fire, sweeping one way only to reverse and surge back in the other. The tide of emotion too overwhelming for words to contain it batters itself against the rock until the storm expends itself and shreds into tatters.
Kaisi opens his eyes and bites his lip. The taste of salt and blood fill his mouth as he reaches up tenderly to his shoulder. The sting of Xalati’s fangs still fresh, just above the collarbone. He breathes in sharply between his teeth when he finds the spot, then smiles briefly before letting out a sudden, exasperated yelp. Throwing his hands and feet into the air, he splays out flat, almost disappearing completely into the tall grass. Kaisi lets out a long sigh…
“‘Never again.’ she says…”
To something so intense. So fervent.
“‘Never again.’ she says…”
To something so new. So spontaneous.
‘Never again.’
Her words hang in the air, like the two of them… Obligatory and ephemeral.
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S13 E27 - Misaligned
The Last Wave By, Crying How Bright
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