If only he could let her leave, quietly and without comment. If only pigs could fly and the clouds really were made out of spun sugar. But wishing Rikyn would shut up was apparently as meaningful as yelling for the rain to stop falling, because he just kept going, his tone snide and disinterested all while he shoved thorns into her wounds.

A funny ringing sound in her ears forced her to strain her hearing in order to pick up everything, and it took some time for the girl to realize that the icy, burning sensation in her chest was not so much withheld tears but anger. It did not rage like a wildfire or explode into existence with the searing flash of lightning, but rather crept deadly unstoppable like a glacier, like winter and nightfall and the inevitability of death. As Rikyn started forward and walked by her she followed his path with eyes so void of emotion that it was eerie, and as he turned his back on her Erthë calmly reached for her bow, pulled it from the wing and aimed down the sight onto the receding backside of the stallion.

Without a sound the arrow flew from the string, magical energy that was so cold that it would burn and freeze its target at the same time. The blinding white light was the only thing to reveal its existence, the path along which it traveled so very short that it would take a lot for the bolt to completely miss its target...

The young valkyrie didn't really care if he managed to dodge or not. Ice was clumping together in her throat and made it nearly impossible to speak, her pounding heart so loud in her ears that she barely heard her own voice.

"You ignorant brat" she said, quiet and deadly as midwinter. "Learn to hold your tongue when you do not know what you speak of."

The bowstring still hummed when she reached for it a second time, the deadly light kindling again as she touched it with cold, numb lips.

"I did not search because I saw her life drain into the sand with my own eyes and felt it stick to my hide, hotter and more terrible than any fire. What point is there to look for someone when I know the spot on which she died better than the place where I was born?"

"I did not return for a year because last time I went to visit her bones, vultures were busy gorging on her carcass and the sight of the carnage nearly drove me from my senses. What meaning is there in seeking out madness, when my only real purpose in life is to remember her and the sacrifice she made?"

Again the arrow flew, carefully avoiding the cerndyr (it had done her no harm, and she pitied it for being bound to such a soulless wretch of a man) as it headed for the gold-stained unicorn. She didn't aim for anything vital, but should the blistering dart of winter and ice strike true she hoped it would hurt him badly, so that he might feel at least a fraction of the pain his careless words inflicted upon her.

"I notice her absence every waking moment of every day, you ignorant child, and if I happen to shed a few tears for my own sake once in a while they will still drown in the ocean I have wept for her!"

Pale feathers ruffled on her wings and shoulders, swelling her to twice the size as the cold voice increased in strength. Erthë's eyes were blazing now, and frost drifted like smoke on the wind as all the water within fifteen feet of her froze; in the air, on the ground, on the mens very hide and skin should they be foolish enough to remain that close. She advanced, steady on her feet as rage drowned out the pain of her limbs, and the bow followed with her hovering just within reach - prepared to serve at a moments notice.

"You're a stupid, thoughtless boy and I loathe the very sight of you. Disappear, and beg to the Gods that I've forgiven your idiocy next time I see you, or I swear I will hurt you for real! Now get lost! GO!"

Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking