|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 11:39 pm
Riley turned to give the crows a careful look, before her eyes slit in amusement. I appreciate the offer. They are elegant, brilliant creatures. They would grow quite bored with me, however. But thank you.
She moved to follow Armida, her steps careful along the path. There were errors of her own she tried to avoid, on a path she was not used to. A poignant symbolism.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:47 pm
The plague doctor merely nodded, a stately gesture, and continued on the path in silence as the swamp closed in around them. After a few more minutes, Armida stepped out from the fall of a willow to reveal the swamp's waterways, stretched out beyond the odd tunnel of greenery they'd traversed. Tethered to a branch was a small coracle, perhaps familiar from Malodore's memories of Armida. The plague doctor did not look up at Riley, but the seeing-crow did, fixing the mindflayer with bright eyes. "No one who has not been reborn into the swamp can see the way to its Heart," she said, evenly. "I think that you know this. I think, also, that you will be difficult to incapacitate through physical means. I do not know your physiology well. But..." Now Armida did turn, adding her sightless porcelain gaze to that of her birds. "There might be a way. And it would be profitable to us both. Will you consent? It will not cause you lasting harm, unless I badly misjudge your resilience."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:27 am
Riley felt just slightly taken aback by the idea of being incapacitated. She might have been a little worried about what was in store for her, if Malodore's memories had not helped her accept just how safe she was in Armida's care.
You'll find me exceptionally resilient. She assured the plague doctor, stepping up to discover just what it was she had planned.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:59 pm
"Very well." She stepped into the coracle, leaving space for Riley to sit as well - a close fit, but just doable. "Be seated... and then reach for my mind, as you do to Malodore's. Focus all that you have." The crow-voice was calm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 9:09 pm
Very carefully, Riley stepped into the coracle, and sat down where room had been made for her. The request was easy enough, though the color of Riley's skin flushed darkly at the request. She did not explain, but she was not about to reach into Armida's mind exactly the same way she did with Malodore. She just entered the mind, and focused quite intensely on her presence there. There was a taste of familiarity, but only just enough to note. In general, Armida's mind was all her own, and Riley inhabited it with her full attention.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:15 pm
Hands gripped her shoulders - hands that felt so, so much like Malodore's. And then- WINGS
flapping wings, fanned black feathers, buffeting from every direction
the view from two dozen pairs of eyes, all at once
the sound from two dozen corvid ears, overlapping blending weaving overwhelming
flight movement wind brushing over under around balance shifting
(claws on shoulders tightening)
past the wings past them everything condenses to a fixed point one fixed point one spider in the middle of the web one more broken beak
recognition
the opening of a door
plaguelets, so tiny, maskless winged bone hands reaching up
where to break the hands off, crack the elbow back just so just here break the wings off just there yes right at the joint break them reshape them HOW TO RESHAPE THEM this is how, this is how, shh, shh
give sight give voice
eyes open behind the mask, beak moves
oh
they did learn something, they did, they had a few things worth knowing here they are here how to seed the bloodmetal how to fly how to shape a wing how to root it in the body to carry weight how to make it whole-
and then in the center, the immensity of power old power old fetid ANCIENT the heart of it beating over a century slow bone-deep ALIVE the essence of life, here, sprawled over mud and water- ---------------------------- Familiar metal claws were intertwined with her fingers, exuding a flicker of anxiousness here and there, but also a sense of trust, of wonder. Was she laying down? She was. Nio Love TRANSLATION: Riley sees all the crows bonded to Armida (she has a lot) before touching Armida herself; Armida gives her the knowledge of how to shape the plague masks for her future plaguelings; how to complete plague doctor wings so that they will support flight; and then presents the regard of the swamp's living heart. Which is vast and unknowable. And now Riley is in a bed in a little shack in Corvilla, with Malodore. The same shack from here, as a matter of fact.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:10 pm
The exposure to the world within Armida's mind felt remarkably familiar. Riley hadn't been able to connect to her hive since her death, and though she did not regret it, she often missed this feeling. She soaked it in, her mind scattering to take in all of the voices and sights at once without issue. It felt comforting. It felt like home.
When the mind began to focus, Riley mourned the loss of the multitude, until she realized what she was witnessing. What she was being given. What she was experiencing. What she was learning.
She saw those tiny eyes open for the first time, and her heart stopped.
She wasn't prepared for the transition into the heart of the swamp, and it overwhelmed her. When she found the strength to return to consciousness, the first thing she could remember thinking was how much she needed to hold Malodore's claws at that moment. Her eyes remained closed, but her fingers curled around the hand that held her, tightening with desperate need.
Malodore. She whispered. She was so tired. But proud. I'm here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
