Tag: heart of the raven
x 23
Under the Weather
The dismal morning drizzled outside her windows, gently rocking the runed framework of her Rustberg manse on reckless, seafaring winds. Rain-spattered portals to the grey beyond, they afforded a blurry look into another dreary attempt at dockside daybreak- fitting for how Ghislaine’s world swayed around her even before she lifted her head.
Silk bed sheets pooled at her feet as she rolled bitterly from their warmth, spilling onto the marbled flooring as though its smooth, cool surface might ground the disquiet in her belly. She had never been prone to sickness- had rarely suffered much more than a rueful morning, with an herbal draught and a splash of arcwine in her orange juice to get her through. But a a few days had passed with...
Songs that Voices Never Share
Dusk rolled over into nightfall, and a lone hunter strode through the ashen forest, head bowed and back straight, his hand curled against the smooth, hard shoulder of a sturdy, young gelding. The dark horse made not a sound, save for the steady huffs of breath gradually growing visible in the cool, evening air, and the steady grind of each of their footfalls in the dead leaves through which they walked. The hunter, likewise, moved in a seeming silence that was really only skin-deep.
Brittle bones left behind. That’s what they were. At one time, he knew, they were bright and golden, flecked with red, like those that had thrived out in the gilded acres of Eversong for as far back as he could remember. But everything dies, one way or...
The Little Things
The Dwarven nesting doll smiled cheerfully up at him with what he imagined was barely held laughter. He hadn’t met many dwarves in his life, but he hoped he might meet someone with her outlook soon. Renrael felt his own grin ruck to the side in answer to her.
He always spoke Common to her. “How long you gonna stay on my nightstand this time, yeah? Very cosmopolitan, aren’t ya? Whisking away around the world. Probably been through more portals than I ever will. Probably seen a LOT; I know who’s pocket you usually sit in. Your courtier will be back for you, soon, I’m sure.” He winked and his fingernail tapped against her in a playful cuff; he was careful not to tip her over. He stood up and his eyes drifted over the other...
Steady Rhythm
Tluck...tlock....
Two drops of water fell from the faucet on the opposite side of her office. The room was sparse, boxes piled on the walls from storage, paperwork was strewn across her desk. It had been weeks since she'd opened the door to this place again, only to realize it wasn't what it had been before.
It was as if the warmth had been drawn from under the doorway and escaped in her absence. The bright colors of the wall seemed muted and aged. The paperwork, where it had once felt meaningful...was empty and stale. There were no clients. She'd need to walk the community once again and start the services. Those that she had on the ledger had been crossed off. Passed away, killed, mercied... there weren't many of the original...
Ashes (and the Lack Thereof)
He was careful not to make a sound as he crept from the amber-streaked shadows of the tavern into early morning’s mottled grey. The ever-present give of damp earth lead him to the stables with ease, a familiar enough pathway winding through the ragged wooden gate, where the wet sound of his footsteps gradually faded into the straw beneath his feet. Silently, he tripped the latch and slipped inside.
The previous morning he’d risen early as ever, yawning and stretching into pre-dawn moments from another fitful night’s rest. River had been at his heels from the start, whining at the crack of the door well before the crack of drawn, and bounding about noisily enough to wake his neighbours. So he’d taken the lot of them, padding...
Tight-lipped
“I mean you no harm. Or him, in spite of the look on his face when we cross paths.” Besides, I’m in no position to judge him for this. For anything.
The things she hadn’t said went with her when they’d parted ways, falling in step with the dull click of her heels against the cobblestone streets.
If it had been a surprise running into ‘Serazyth’ in the gleaming, gaudy paradise that was Silvermoon City, it was a shock straight to her core to find he’d not only moved on in his cursed half-life, but that someone had attached herself to it in the process.
“I’m surprised you allow anyone else to lay hands on your things.” I never really knew you, did I?
Habit had lead her to the little dive bar at the end of the...
Finger on the (Im)pulse
And so she stayed. His borrowed room was dark by the time his pulse slowed and her feather-soft breaths evened out against his skin. There was no denying the warmth of her, curled up inside of his beneath the half-hearted cover of the quilt on which they lay.
The weight of her head on his arm felt like trust he had no business having, and yet there it was all the same. Had he meant for this to happen when he’d suggested they bring their late night meal upstairs? It wasn’t often he did anything without forethought, without a plan. Survival instincts honed over decades had never failed him before.
He sometimes thought that’s all he was. A series of instincts incarnate- to eat, to sleep, to live, to kill. To seek connection where...
Plurals
‘We’ she’d said, and it was keeping him awake. Knuckles grazing the smooth, wooden planks beneath his bed, he lay there draped across the mattress all the same.
Talyn had come to think of Shade as a friend, or at least somebody he could be around. She was polished obsidian, the kind that made lethal, light-as-air arrowheads as well as the pretty baubles they sold in the Bazaar. And while he didn’t doubt her shiny, sharp edges, he knew her to be just as opaque. Faceted, beyond what drunken customers and tight-lipped co-workers might see.
She’d looked paler than he was used to seeing, limp and lethargic. Just a bit of blood loss and, nah, nothing to worry about at all. But it hadn’t taken much to get her talking. She had...
