#bernhard

Atomica (when she had them)

Bernhard

Briar (down to their beds)

Charun

Faerris

Johann

Kaspar

Leslie

Lyra

Maia

Pepper

Redd

Saskia

Seneca

Taffy

Teddy

Tobi

Ure

Vikram

Zii

Portrait of Maria Ludovika, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria (1787-1816), circa 1808

I was tagged by @tananaphone for the words: throat, midnight, press, blink, reach

I love doing these so much, here's some snippets from Siege of Berthingtonn!

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Throat

“Let’s go dance,” Rinnie said, with as much conviction as she could muster.

They continued towards the loudest source of the music and eventually broke through the crowds to a band playing some more traditional Berthan tunes. Berthan music had odd beats and the guitars always liked to add extra flair, but those were like a challenge to Rinnie. She took small steps back and forth, getting a feel for them. Once she had it, she grabbed her mom’s hand and dragged her into the dancing.

Ilani was not disturbed by this. Rinnie had gotten her grace from somewhere after all. The two elves stuck to the edges of the dancing, so as not to get too far away from their guards standing on the sidelines. Rinnie and Ilani spun each other around and for the first time in days, Rinnie laughed for real. It started in her core and bubbled up to her throat. Ilani laughed too and the two of them danced for as long as there was music.

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Midnight

“That is not fast enough.”

Thea’s blood chilled. The Queen Matron.

She turned as the woman walked farther into the tent. Queen Matron Thalna stood tall, as any person with sitah blood would. She had strawberry blonde curls that fell down her back, and brilliant gold eyes. Nidtrix’s valgard and ruler of Eswaisil.

“We need him by midnight,” Thalna continued.

“What?” Thea asked, flatly. That had not been written in the orders. She was so flabbergasted she couldn’t even be concerned that she’d technically just backtalked the Queen Matron.

“There is an eclipse,” Thalna said, by means of explanation. “The height of which is at one-fifty-four tomorrow morning.”

Thea’s stomach dropped. That fact had slipped her mind. The smaller moon would move in front of the bigger one. The alignment would allow for an increase of magics all around. And or a few vital seconds, the increase would be exponential.

That exponential increase would allow a Cleaving to not only take the power away from one god, but also grant it to another.

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Reach 

Rendon started a panicked run back into the shield compound. Killian’s reach was greater than he was fast, however. Killian grabbed him by the back of the collar and yanked him back.

Rendon’s mage’s hands started circling in some gesture. Skythorn and Falk had the same idea at the same time and with slightly different techniques, telekinetically shoved the man. The combined force from the two of them sent him halfway into a stone wall with a sickening crunch. As his body crumpled down, his skull trailed a red slick of blood.

Rendon’s other guard threw his hands up. “Hey, I never really liked this cult anyway!”

“Traitor!” Rendon spat. Or, attempted to, anyway, considering his collar was particularly tight around his neck. He continued flailing. Killian’s response was to pull him off the ground by his collar.

“You know, I get it, some people don’t like to talk to me. So instead, you’re going to have a little chat with our Evianne Priestess.” Forcibly, Killian turned Rendon to Rinnie.

Rinnie looked Rendon in the eye and a shudder went up Adler’s back.

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Press

Bernhard smirked. “You know so little,” he chuckled. “Either they’re not telling you everything, or you’re not as far up in the echelons as I’d originally thought. I felt you take a pass at my power earlier, not bad for a whelp like you. But alas, I’ve forgotten more about divine magic than you’ve ever learned.”

Killian tossed the spar in the air again and thwacked it harmlessly against the palm of his hand. “More working, less insulting my friend.”

Bernhard pursed his lips, keeping his eyes focused on Rinnie. “I could continue to talk religion, but you’re resistant to the enlightenment, so why bother?”

Rinnie frowned, wanting to press for more information on Evianne. But she couldn’t be sure if he was lying to piss her off. And they needed the shield to come down.

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Blink

“Care to explain your fascination with airships?” Killian asked, coming up behind her.

“Oh!” Rinnie jumped in surprise. She pushed hair out of her face. Killian chuckled.

“There’s no point trying to hide it,” Killian continued. “I can see you ogling.”

Rinnie sighed. “My grandfather was an airship mechanic,” she explained. “All he ever talked about was ships, races, and shows.” She smiled fondly. “He dragged me to every event he could get us into. I thought it was amazing. Unfortunately, he died before I turned twenty. Afterwards, my dad started going with me instead. It was cathartic for us at first, then habit. I know all of the best seats on the Edansa circuit, and I have a poster of Neil Traister signed by the man himself.”

Killian blinked. “You’re shitting me. He doesn’t fly anymore.”

Rinnie arched an eyebrow. “You know how old I am.”

Killian frowned. “Actually, we never finished that bet.”

Rinnie smirked. “Well, you know how not-young I am.”

Killian did some quick math. “So, you’re not kidding.”

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La gioventù per chi la vive è una situazione raccapricciante.