It was a long, hot walk in which Fara and her compatriots seemed to be suffering about as well as a scaled daemon. They kept to the shadows, certainly, but they didn't seem like the foreigners they looked; they didn't ask for water, and they barely even seemed to sweat. Their focus on their surroundings seemed complete, leaving Fara to do all of the talking. Kaitan might notice as they made their progress that all of them possessed items that didn't necessarily seem to be of the base essentials: Fara had a pouch on her sash that clicked as she walked. One kept a staff of dark, gnarled and blasted wood that didn't look like it had come from anywhere near the Erysan. The last sported a pair of heavy-looking metal instruments that must have been heated near to searing in this hot weather: they were compact and ugly, like a crossbow missing most of its crucial elements, but with grips and places to load in bolts.
Fara didn't give Kaitan a lot of time to gawk. By the time that they got into the thick of it, she was bouncing questions back like a practised athlete. Yes, there was definitely more to it than the Goddesses could hope to control, and that was the point of it, wasn't it? Once one started looking for the cracks, one could see them all around... and once one saw the cracks, the world was less real for it. It was an ode to nihilism, of a sort, but Fara didn't seem pessimistic. She seemed frayed out, but there was hope limning her words. It was strange.
They had managed to evade detection for much of their walk, or so it would seem. As they began into pass into the rockiest portions of their journey, however, shadows raced over the dunes behind them.
Fennel placed a hand on Fara's shoulder, pausing their progress. "It's show-time," she told them.
Kaitan would note very familiar figures buoyed by the heavy, hot air. Their lazy wing-strokes belayed the speed at which they were travelling, but every so often, a tilt of the ulna would cause the golden armour and jewellery plastered across their bodies to glitter blindingly, even from a distance. They'd dealt with Askaliden before.
"How much further to the node?" Fara asked, voice terse. Her compatriots were fanning out, and their actions suggested that Fara and Kaitan begin to move quickly. Quickly enough that Fara was securing Kaitan by the elbow with one hand and reaching into her pouch with the other.
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Fara didn't give Kaitan a lot of time to gawk. By the time that they got into the thick of it, she was bouncing questions back like a practised athlete. Yes, there was definitely more to it than the Goddesses could hope to control, and that was the point of it, wasn't it? Once one started looking for the cracks, one could see them all around... and once one saw the cracks, the world was less real for it. It was an ode to nihilism, of a sort, but Fara didn't seem pessimistic. She seemed frayed out, but there was hope limning her words. It was strange.
They had managed to evade detection for much of their walk, or so it would seem. As they began into pass into the rockiest portions of their journey, however, shadows raced over the dunes behind them.
Fennel placed a hand on Fara's shoulder, pausing their progress. "It's show-time," she told them.
Kaitan would note very familiar figures buoyed by the heavy, hot air. Their lazy wing-strokes belayed the speed at which they were travelling, but every so often, a tilt of the ulna would cause the golden armour and jewellery plastered across their bodies to glitter blindingly, even from a distance. They'd dealt with Askaliden before.
"How much further to the node?" Fara asked, voice terse. Her compatriots were fanning out, and their actions suggested that Fara and Kaitan begin to move quickly. Quickly enough that Fara was securing Kaitan by the elbow with one hand and reaching into her pouch with the other.