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| Vale of the White Horse | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,344 Views) | |
| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 15:17 Post #1801 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'That's as good a start as any,' he said darkly, steeling himself for what lay ahead. Before he'd only killed out of self-defense - once or twice when he'd simply lost control in a fight - never a cold-blooded assassination like this. But if he didn't kill the Romans, they would kill his people. 'Have you any idea how close you have to be to them?' he asked Essylt. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 15:22 Post #1802 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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The question repulsed her. She tried to swallow it back, wanting to shut everything except her rational thought. It was too hard. ‘I don’t. Close contact. I had to touch everything else directly before it froze. Unless I…unless I can take the environment with such brutality that it’ll take them…Along.’ She looked away from him. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 15:25 Post #1803 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Do think you can do that? Essylt?' he pressed. It was better to get it over with as soon as possible, he thought. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 15:29 Post #1804 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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No – she didn’t think she could do it al all. But he hadn’t asked about that. ‘I told you I’d try.’ |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 15:32 Post #1805 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Hm, perhaps it's better if we move a little closer. C'mon,' he said and grabbed her wrist, taking her along the grassy slope until they were closer to the regiment, though still covered by the bushes and trees. His heart was hammering in his throat by now, adrenalin pumping. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 15:35 Post #1806 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She felt her face distorting; trying not to cry and trying not to shout insults at his head. Trying not to throw up. ‘Let me go.’ |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 15:41 Post #1807 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'After this,' he said, his voice a whisper, or a low growl, and pulled a little harder on her wrist than he should have. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 15:42 Post #1808 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She nearly lost her balance. If he pulled harder, her wrist might just snap. 'I mean now. I need both my hands free unless I freeze you too.' |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 15:44 Post #1809 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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He sucked his breath in and let go of her immediately. That had been careless of him. 'I'm sorry,' he said curtly. 'Is this close enough?' They were so close now he could almost see their features. Good. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 15:52 Post #1810 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Essylt closed her eyes. It wasn’t to help her focus, but she could no longer stand the glimmer of their armor and the sun on their faces. Her teeth were digging into her lip again and it hurt – but that was a pain she more than deserved. It was not even close to the agony of your heart stopping from creeping frost, entering your body like a monster. She spread her fingers wide, putting both hands firmly on the ground. Before she could start, she’d need the owl. Set me free from this. Perhaps he’d been there all along. She felt him land close to her and did not have to open her eyes to know that he was the only creature to have clemency on her now. Her hands became cold. Then it crept up to her arms, gripping her throat so she couldn’t even sob. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 15:57 Post #1811 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant knelt down beside her, looking eagerly from her spread-out fingers to the Roman soldiers and back again. That's it. This was revenge. Revenge for everything they'd done to his land, his people, and indirectly; to him. He wanted to dig into her hair with his fingers while she sent the foreign pigs back to their maker, but the only thing that kept him was fear of being iced himself. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 16:03 Post #1812 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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As the ice rolled from her hands down, down into the earth of the Roman feet, she felt something else leak from her. Perhaps it was her heart, or maybe it were tears. Possibly the very Essylt she had been up to now. Her hands began to shake; she had to dig them deep into the soil. Her body slumped lower on the ground, her shoulders sagging. Clenching her eyes shut until the sunlight no longer left traces behind the lids, she wondered what was happening below in the valley. Somewhere close she heard Morcant’s heavy breathing. She thought she heard shouting. ‘No.’ Her voice had left her, she could only let out a breath carrying the word. Her head fell down between her hands, the brow resting against the earth. Like an aspen leaf in the wind, she was trembling all over. Every bit of strength had seemed out of her, like blood. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 16:08 Post #1813 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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He looked at the Romans, vexedly. They were confused, but only two or three of them had frozen in their steps. No! More had to die, but Essylt looked like she couldn't take any more. It just couldn't be! There had to be more strength in her that. He knew she could do it, she had to. He remembered when she'd frozen the tree; she'd been very angry and very scared. There was no other option. Morcant grabbed her wrists and pressed her hands into the soft earth. 'Don't stop,' he growled in her ear, 'if they find us I won't be able to protect you. Kill them.' |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 16:14 Post #1814 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She opened her eyes, looking at him feeling as if she had already passed beyond a veil. Her bones were cold. Her lungs were cold, too. Every breath felt like swallowing a mouthful of river water. More. He needed more. Trying to inhale as deeply as she needed, she pressed on. Her gaze faltered, trees and bushes swimming around. Now all was bright like a star, now everything blurred into grey. 'You may as well slide your knife over my throat now,' she whispered hoarsly. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 16:17 Post #1815 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'I won't, but they will if you stop now,' he told her, in the grip of such a consuming fire that he could only think about death and Essylt's ice-cold fingers. 'And then they'll kill your father, rape your mother and burn the caer down with everyone in it.' There had to be some nerve he could touch that would unleash the full destructive power of her ice, he knew it. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 16:26 Post #1816 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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It was true. Somewhere in her head, a place where the hurt had not entered yet, she heard the words ring out loudly. They would. ‘It’s not…pity!’ she managed to snap breathlessly, shrugging his hands off her own, slamming a clenched fist into the earth again. Like vast flowers, the ice shot down from her hands, piercing through the thicket and ferns. Essylt imagined she could almost hear it, like the rush of a coursing river in the great distance. She didn’t know if it tackled all the men below. She didn’t know if she had managed to kill even a hiding hare in his hole down the slope. Her lip broke and started to bleed. She brushed it off with such a shaking, cold hand that it hardly felt like her own. More blood immediately welled up. ‘….’ She tried to say how exhausted she really felt, how much like a jug emptied to the bottom. She couldn’t find the power. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 16:33 Post #1817 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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He wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her back and forth, force her to continue, but before he could someone grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him off of Essylt, throwing him backwards. 'Have you gone out of your mind?!' he heard a familiar voice shout as he landed into a tree. 'You bleedin' git!' A fist connected with his jaw and stars exploded in his vision. Breathing heavily, Cuhelyn threw himself down next to Essylt and pulled her hands from the earth, away from the glittering, icy waterfall that had ran down the slope. 'It's all right, girlie, take a breath, that's it. Easy now...' By the Arawn's dogs, what had Morcant done? |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 16:39 Post #1818 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She coughed and panted as if someone had just dragged her out of the water. It was hard to see, but the voice wasn’t Morcant’s. She shook on all sides, hugging herself so tightly that her muscles began to hurt more than just from the cold. Then, she turned around and threw up on the ground. She had barely eaten at all, so it was a business finished quickly, yet she felt sick to the core. Wiping her mouth with the sleeve of the blue tunic, she blinked up. ‘Cuhelyn?’ |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 16:43 Post #1819 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'The one and only,' he said, though without his usual lighthearted banter. Cuhelyn took off his own cloak and wrapped it around the girl, who was trembling and pale as a ghost. Morcant was still counting stars, but the Romans down below had recovered from their shock and were now searching around for the cause of the disturbance. 'Gotta go,' Cuhelyn grunted tersely before lifting the girl off her feet without much further ado. He threw a disgusted look on Morcant, wondering what the hell had possessed his friend to be doing this and thanking the gods for his intuition that made him return before he'd been halfway back to camp. He gave the man a kick. 'Get onto your bloomin' feet, the Romans are coming,' he hissed. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 16:46 Post #1820 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She clung to the man, feeling that she had left the ground. The Romans were coming. It was a barely registered fact. If they’d find her and kill her now, would it matter so much for how she felt? Essylt dug her face into the coarse material of Cuhelyn’s tunic and began to cry. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 16:51 Post #1821 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant shook his head, trying to get rid of the wooziness that threatened to lodge there. He'd failed. It was a bitter taste in his mouth as he scrambled to his feet, stumbling after Cuhelyn. He was carrying Essylt, he noticed, and a sharp pang of jealousy struck his heart. 'Shh.' Cuhelyn tried to comfort Essylt the best he could while running. He nearly stumbled over fallen branches and rocks a couple of times, but always managed to find his balance - not in the least because he knew that if he fell, she'd be in pain too. And by the looks of it, his brother had caused her enough pain to last her a lifetime. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 17:04 Post #1822 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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It was a long and stumbling sort of run. His arms never lost her grip on her and he never fell down, but she was frightened. Finally, their pace seemed to slow down, eventually halting. She felt him panting against her. Was it over? |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 17:10 Post #1823 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Where did you come from all of a sudden?' Morcant growled, pressing a hand against his ribs. 'Thank you, Cuhelyn, for saving our lives,' he snapped and gently lowered Essylt on a patch of moss that looked comfortable enough. 'For now I've nothing else to say to you, brother.' Cuhelyn turned his back on the man and knelt down next to the girl. 'How are you feeling?' he asked quietly. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 17:13 Post #1824 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She briefly looked past Cuhelyn’s broad shoulder, where Morcant stood looking out of breath and bitter. ‘I’m…I don’t know.’ It still sounded like she was on the verge of tears, yet her face must be drenched in them already, just as his tunic. ‘It hurts…’ |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 17:16 Post #1825 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'I'll make you some tea,' Cuhelyn said quietly, turning on Morcant. 'Build a fire.' He raised an eyebrow. 'I thought you weren't speaking to me,' he said bitterly. This was not how he had planned things to go and he felt - well, he didn't know exactly what he felt, but it wasn't pretty. 'Just get a fire going, Morcant,' Cuhelyn repeated wearily before digging around in his backpack, getting out a package of dried herbs. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 17:22 Post #1826 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She sat with her legs pulled to one side, huddled with her arms still trying to cover her chest and shoulders - as if she could find warmth from the very limbs that had gushed out the coldest substance she'd even known. 'The blanket...where is it?' |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 17:25 Post #1827 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Cuhelyn rummaged through the bags, getting out the blanket and draping it over Essylt's shoulders. 'Are you still feeling sick, or would you like some food?' he asked, gently rubbing her back. He glanced at Morcant, whose shoulders were tightly pulled backwards. |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 17:30 Post #1828 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'Just tea is fine,' she whispered. The blanket only made her feel confined. Essylt looked down on her hands that were laying in the folds of the fabric. They looked normal. Pale skin, long fingers. Perhaps a little paler than usual. But she - she had murdered with these hands. Not enough to satisfy Morcant, but she had glimpsed fallen bodies, at least four. 'Gods....' she hunched over, hiding her face against her knees, making herself as little as possible. |
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| Sonja | 27 Apr 2010, 17:33 Post #1829 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant couldn't look at her. Didn't need to, as he felt pure desperation radiate from her anyway. Now that he could think straight again, he found that he didn't want to know what she must think of him. What Cuhelyn must think of him, for that matter. 'Fire's ready,' he said. Cuhelyn grunted and stepped away from Essylt to prepare the tea. When it was done, he carried the steamng cup back to her. He had to get her to sleep, then he could have a nice, long chat with Morcant. 'There you go, dearie. Careful, it's hot.' |
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| Marieke | 27 Apr 2010, 17:37 Post #1830 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She'd gladly burn her hand to the deepest layers of her skin, if it would help her feel warm again. 'Cuhelyn, where did you -' |
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