#darkonesblessing

Qir said nothing for a long, long moment. His gaze travelled to the far horizon, and then travelled back to the sight of Eiri’s hands on the reigns before him. It was a sure and certain grip, and her arms around him made him feel safer than he’d felt since his father’s last, faltering warning. 

Strange how before he’d cried at such insignificant things. At Ami dropping his doll into the Ióvhainn and watching the straw soften and float away. At the stern words of Beras the miner after he’d been caught sneaking into the processing site. He’d only gone to marvel at the shiny rocks they pulled from the earth - from huge lumps of rock and dirt so insignificant in appearance he had wondered how they’d known they were worth anything at all. At his father sending him to bed too early.In the face of this, shouldn’t he be crying? Mythelean grew into a memory as they travelled farther south, and his father remained trapped with it. All he felt was a lead weight in his heart, a weariness in his veins, and an urge to press his forehead down to the mane of this horse and stay there until the world was right again. His mind was too quiet. 

“Pure knowledge is empty.” Came the words finally, in a small and distant voice. “So many new things have taken root that were never learned. I know so many things, but…” Qir began to worry the edges of his cloak with his fingernails. “I don’t know if it’s going to be okay. And I don’t know if I can save him. I don’t want to look there yet.” 

He turned to Nija and fixed her with an old, blank stare. Somehow, seeing her already looking at him was comforting.

Ori shrugged, absently tapping a thumb against the nock of each arrow in turn at their side-quiver. “Yeah, ya know.” They said, a bright smile as always touching their eyes. “It’s kinda easy not to have a care when you’re free to go wherever. You get boxed up, who knows what’s gettin’ trapped in there with you.” 

They tapped twice on the side of their forehead with two fingers, then kissed them gently in almost a salute-like gesture.