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Turn the page I need to see something new "Yeah, I know. I visited a few years ago, so I've seen..." Lace interrupted himself, distracted by a thought from his dragon. Owls? Before he had time to process the thought however events began to unfurl one after the other and he got no chance to finish what he had been saying. Lace hadn't expected a warm welcome, but even so this felt slightly over the top. There was no telling how much time had passed between arriving and the first tentative step forward, because no breaths were counted, no heartbeats measured, no visible sign given save perhaps the slight brightening of the stars or the deepening of the shadows around his feet. All he knew was that no sooner had a slated hoof touched within the borders of the forest realm than ice exploded from the ground before him, and with a snort of mingled surprise and rage Lace half reared and leaped back, ears pressed flat against the neck. Snow and glittering shards of ice hovered in the air as narrowed eyes began to search the dusk beneath the boughs for the conjurer, and had not yet fallen to the ground before the shadows were thrust aside by flaming, blazing projectiles that singed the air; Lace felt an urge to leap out of the way even though they were too far away to risk being burned either one of them. He felt ire rise like bile in the throat, poisoning the tongue with ill chosen words he just longed to shout into the night. But he kept quiet, focusing instead on the source of the flames. And there he was, that white giant. Steaming and foaming and quite a bit older than the last time their paths had crossed - yet to Lace he appeared no different than the first time he'd seen him. It had been not too far from here, from across a battlefield that had yielded victory and defeat, gain and loss, love and hatred and wounds that went far too deep to ever fully heal. He stared at Mauja, and as memories and emotions worked within him the trees and underbrush around them began to shift restlessly, twigs and branches rustling and stirring despite the windless evening. How tempting it was to reach out and bend them further to his will, engage trunk and root and thorny shrubs to retaliate against the earlier display, return the favor by snaring legs and horn and pale flesh until the King was forced to bend his knee again, like he had that time... But a thought, singular and serene like a frozen droplet of water beneath morning sunlight fell into the raging sea of his mind, and Lace steadied himself with a slow, deep breath. Willing himself to calm down, he gave Mauja a dry, ironic smile and forced his own knee to bend into a bow. It was quick, quite sloppy and not at all honest, but it solidified at least to himself the current standings among the gathered. The crown rested upon the head of another now and he was a beggar pleading at the door for a breadcrumb. It didn't matter that the roles had been reversed once, or that they had met before as equals. Those times were long since past - different rules applied now. "Ah, my liege" the Silverthorn offered once he had risen again, not so hidden barbs lining every word he said. "How very kind of you to greet every vagabond that comes across your border in person... What do I owe this doubtful pleasure?" With a thought he lit up the forest with his own fire, a blazing orb that rivaled the sun itself in heat and brightness. High above them it hovered in midair, pulsating steadily like a beating heart. Not so much a threat as it was a warning Lace kept the miniature sun alive as he stared fixedly at Mauja - he wouldn't tolerate any more threats, nor would they make him back down. If he wanted a fight the unicorn would have to make the challenge himself and accept the consequences. He made no attempts to be polite or diplomatic. What was the point, when they were way past the time for pleasant words and niceties already? Nyx would have to excuse him, Lace just couldn't act like nothing had ever transpired when just looking at that horse made him want to tear something to pieces. He would never be able to hide his loathing anyway, there was little point in trying. Yes, he wanted to live in the forest, but not if it came at the cost of self respect and sanity. He had his uses and enough of both experience and skill to earn him a place in any herd even without bowing and scraping - especially this one, when he still knew the land and its secrets like the back of his own hand. If the king was too blinded by personal feelings to see that then he was not fit to rule... and one day Lace might have to do something about it.  |
@Nyx
♦ Permission granted to use magic and violence on Lace and Fajira
♦ Only tag in new threads, spars and if it's urgent
The Store | The Warden
