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Corpses littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Many were Stari, pierced by arrows or cut down by swords. A few had been electrocuted by Nyx or trampled under horses.
Most corpses belonged to the Expeditionary Force. They met their fates with arrows or lightning, or the other hundreds of magical weapons equipped by the Stari.
The carrion birds, of course, cared little for who fought on which side, they simply set about the feast left for them. Others poked through the bodies, thieves looking for loot or women their husbands, brothers, or sons, rending the night with their cries upon finding them.
Amaya wandered the field, much as they did, questing for one she knew to be dead. Several bodies had been picked over, of course, the battle was a day old. It was only the sheer number of bodies that kept the field littered.
A torch flickered in Amaya's hand, stirred by the wind that fathered and billowed in her black cloak. Any who met her gaze hastily looked away, fearful of the burning eyes under the hood.
At last, she found it. Her twin sister, body scorched from her own lightning and pierced by Ranger's arrow. Amaya gave a strangled sob and knelt by the sill form. "Oh dear sister. My match, my equal. With me from our mother's womb to the forest, and beyond our tribe's home. Oh, Nyx, what will I do without you?"
Thunder clapped, so loud the silence following seem deafening. The gentle drizzle she'd been walking through increased to a downpour. The fire of her torch flared as whistling wind met it, sending up clouds of steam as the rain hit it. She lay the torch on her sister's body, using her magic to pull the water away enough for the flame to catch.
She remained there, watching the flames as they slowly consumed Nyx's body. Her magic kept the rain from putting out the fire, but otherwise the rain continued to pour. She was drenched in moments, but ignored it, ignored the dirt beneath her as it quickly turned to mud, or the people around her as they sought shelter from the storm.
"I am only the rain without you. What is a storm without lightning?"
Hours passed. Nyx's body had long since been consumed and her ashes beaten into the ground by the rain before Amaya finally moved. She stood and looked towards the forest. "Narus, Ranger, you will regret this. I could have forgiven you your attacks against Rhykim, even challenging him directly as you have. But you have crossed a line, and I will never forgive you." She turned and strode away, each step from the forest a vow of vengeance.
Most corpses belonged to the Expeditionary Force. They met their fates with arrows or lightning, or the other hundreds of magical weapons equipped by the Stari.
The carrion birds, of course, cared little for who fought on which side, they simply set about the feast left for them. Others poked through the bodies, thieves looking for loot or women their husbands, brothers, or sons, rending the night with their cries upon finding them.
Amaya wandered the field, much as they did, questing for one she knew to be dead. Several bodies had been picked over, of course, the battle was a day old. It was only the sheer number of bodies that kept the field littered.
A torch flickered in Amaya's hand, stirred by the wind that fathered and billowed in her black cloak. Any who met her gaze hastily looked away, fearful of the burning eyes under the hood.
At last, she found it. Her twin sister, body scorched from her own lightning and pierced by Ranger's arrow. Amaya gave a strangled sob and knelt by the sill form. "Oh dear sister. My match, my equal. With me from our mother's womb to the forest, and beyond our tribe's home. Oh, Nyx, what will I do without you?"
Thunder clapped, so loud the silence following seem deafening. The gentle drizzle she'd been walking through increased to a downpour. The fire of her torch flared as whistling wind met it, sending up clouds of steam as the rain hit it. She lay the torch on her sister's body, using her magic to pull the water away enough for the flame to catch.
She remained there, watching the flames as they slowly consumed Nyx's body. Her magic kept the rain from putting out the fire, but otherwise the rain continued to pour. She was drenched in moments, but ignored it, ignored the dirt beneath her as it quickly turned to mud, or the people around her as they sought shelter from the storm.
"I am only the rain without you. What is a storm without lightning?"
Hours passed. Nyx's body had long since been consumed and her ashes beaten into the ground by the rain before Amaya finally moved. She stood and looked towards the forest. "Narus, Ranger, you will regret this. I could have forgiven you your attacks against Rhykim, even challenging him directly as you have. But you have crossed a line, and I will never forgive you." She turned and strode away, each step from the forest a vow of vengeance.