Post by Kennet Caern on Aug 7, 2022 18:20:42 GMT -5
Love was not a thing freely given in Kennet’s world. Settling into the chair across from Tara, Kennet met her gaze with an uncertain but grateful smile. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering whether it was Cambria or the Ellises that had forged the woman across from her in the gracious creature she was, the one who loved so easily, so freely.
“This is no small thing you’re doing,” Kennet offered in return, taking the hand Tara offered her with another grateful smile and a deep breath. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to find something we can use.”
Closing her eyes, Kennet willed her mind to go dark. It was not her first time reaching out for the Sight, but it was her first time reaching through it in search of something—not a general glimpse of the past or a glimmer of what the future might hold, but something tangible, something specific. Something Tara could use to reunite her family.
“This is no small thing you’re doing,” Kennet offered in return, taking the hand Tara offered her with another grateful smile and a deep breath. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to find something we can use.”
Closing her eyes, Kennet willed her mind to go dark. It was not her first time reaching out for the Sight, but it was her first time reaching through it in search of something—not a general glimpse of the past or a glimmer of what the future might hold, but something tangible, something specific. Something Tara could use to reunite her family.
Waves filled the void, swallowing the dark of Kennet’s mind and washing the word with a brilliant, glaring light. Standing on the shore, Kennet had to lift her hand against the sun.Kennet pulled herself from the vision, panting with the effort. Seated on her chair, back rigid and green eyes staring blankly at something faraway, all of a minute would have passed for Tara and Lyra. In that time, though, Kennet traveled to Cambria and back. She looked upon the black sands of Skia burning under the brilliance of a sun she herself had never known, while Malthace smiled up at a future the world never intended to offer.
“Sit still.”
Kennet spun, searching for the voice, one she knew but couldn’t place—
A wildcat yowled at her back, making her blood run cold and her heels slow to turn, by the time she did—
Flames erupted under the hammer. Tara stood behind the anvil, tongs in one hand and a massive hammer in the other. A golden-haired woman with grey eyes stood over her shoulder—
Waves wet her skirt, rushing across the beach, making the sand under her feet sink. “But why do we have to go anyway?” a child whined, big blue eyes craning up at the sky in search of the girl standing behind her.
“If someone would stop fidgeting,” the older girl chided with a smile, “we would already be there.” Kennet’s heart stopped, finally realizing why the voice had sounded so familiar. Malthace stood behind her sister, braiding her hair—
A massive, yowling cougar leapt from a cliff that hadn’t been there a moment before, dropping onto the rocky terrain that replaced the sand under her feet. A gleaming broadsword cut through the scene, catching the light as it barreled toward the creature and Kennet took a step back, watching Tara Ellis charge the wildcat with dark hair whipping over her shoulder—
“But do you even want to get married?” Tara complained, knees bent against the shore while Malthace finished braiding her hair—
The metal on the anvil flattened, glowing bright-hot and red. “Again,” the woman standing over Tara’s shoulder demanded—
Tara struck again, drawing her sword against her hip and jabbing at the cougar—
“Of course I do,” Malthace laughed. “And if I’m lucky,” she grinned, pride boasting in her voice—
“Again,” the sharp-eyed woman demanded. Tara swung her hammer—
Her blade sliced across the cougar’s shoulder, making the cougar howl, lunging with foam frothing in its mouth—
“I’ll meet my future husband tonight,” Malthace smiled, blue eyes bright and dancing at the prospect. “And he’ll be—”
“Again—”
The cougar pounced. Tara fell a step back, blue eyes wide and determined. She dropped to one knee, cutting upward—
“—and we’ll have at least five children,” Malthace decided. “Mostly boys, of course. But maybe one or two girls—”
Tara lowered her hammer, exchanging it for the massive sword cooling on the anvil and the pride shining in her mentor’s eyes—
The cougar bent, skewered on Tara’s blade. Blood sputtered from the wound, wetting her hands and face. The tongue lolled from the beast’s mouth—
“You really think so?” Tara asked, wide-eyed and innocent on the beach.
Malthace tied a ribbon around the end of Tara’s braid. “I know so.”