- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Online Availability
- I check as often as I can.
- Writing Levels
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Advanced
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- No Preferences
- Genres
- Fantasy, Realistic/Modern, Magic, Scifi, Romance
"I didn't know you cared. You didn't seem to like him very much."
Feria hissed under her breath. Apparently, she'd been found. Damn. She hadn't missed Olsten one bit. Her almost worrisome look fell apart in a matter of moments and her teeth were bared. She should have known better.
"Well, I know for certain I never liked you, you little brat." She growled. "Sorry for feeling any remorse."
Olsten flared his nostrils at the insult but remained still otherwise. What hurt far more than whatever Feria thought of him was how wrong he'd been. He had believed, actually believed, that she had changed, that perhaps Hale's death or the loss of her arm had thawed her icy heart. He should've known better.
Arms crossed over his chest, he closed the distance between and stepped right up to Feria until their noses were but a few inches apart. She was taller, but not by enough to intimidate him.
"The feeling is mutual, I assure you." he answered through gritted teeth. "And I'm sorry too," he added, "I'm sorry you lost your boyfriend...or whatever he was to you...but you're not the only one to have lost people, you know? Stop feeling so sorry for yourself."
He wanted to fight now, was that it? The insolent child thought stepping closer and staring her straight in the eyes would intimidate her. No, Feria was prepared to freeze the kid in a block of ice if it meant winning. She had had it up to here with his quips and his jabs and she wished he would have stayed wherever he flew off back then and never come back.
But at the mention of her 'boyfriend', her fierceness faltered. For a moment, there was true hurt in her eyes, a second where she was lost for an insult to retaliate with. She stepped back, stunned. "Don't.. I'm not.. I'm not feeling sorry for myself." Feria sputtered, searching for hurtful words, but nothing better came out. "Don't speak of him like that." She croaked.
Olsten remained unmoved as Feria backed away. He could tell she too was searching for words, insults, anything to hurt the other whilst keeping from a physical fight, but his mind drew a blank.
"Fine," he sighed eventually, easing up a little. "I won't speak of him, if that's what you want. In fact," a snarl played at his lips, "it's probably best if we don't talk at all. We have the same enemy. For now. That's all."
With that said, he promptly turned around and prepared to head back to Grybil. A hesitation caused his steps to pause and he shot a glance over his shoulder at Feria. "I thought you'd changed," he mumbled with a mixture of hurt and disappointment.
He laid off, eventually, but by then she was already prepared to walk away. She couldn't help but agree; perhaps it was best if they did not speak. Feria despised the fact that such a stupid child made her seethe with anger more than anything else. She watched him spin on his heels and turn away, before he stopped. His hesitation surprised her.
Changed? He thought she had changed? A look of confusion and sadness entered her face. She had. Feria knew she had. She knew she was growing soft and she knew she was growing distant from Ifer in some strange, hopeless way. Feria stared at Olsten for a long time before saying anything.
"What do you want from me, Olsten?" She finally murmured, shaking her head. "I tried to change. But I didn't think it was a very good look on me." It was easier to be distant, and easier to snap rather than have patience. She had given up long ago, and Feria thought it had only empowered her. Maybe she was wrong.
Olsten sighed as he gazed out over the thawing Thallas plains. Rosenfall was nothing more than a thumb-sized speck on the horizon. Strange, how such a small thing, a shadow he could crush between his fingers, could cause so much suffering. One way or another, it would soon be over, and after he'd had his revenge, they would turn to face the Shadow. A bitter taste entered his mouth.
His eyes momentarily flitted over to Feria before he resumed gazing gloomily into the distance. "I've been telling Thannel a lot about the Haven. About how we lived there. About our manners and the bond between Warden and Dragon." The chainmail hidden underneath his tabard tinkled as he turned towards Feria once more and cautiously stepped back towards her. "D'you know why I've been telling him that? Why I would spill our ways, our secrets to him? Trust me, it's not because I'm a brat, even if you like to think of me that way," Compared to just moments before, the contempt in his voice was mild. He stopped with just a few feet of miserable soil between them and lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "It's because there won't be anything of us left otherwise. We may win a battle here, if it comes to that...but against the shadow?" An unmistakable darkness settled over his features, dimming the lights in his eyes while he scuffed his feet over the half-frozen dirt.
"It's hopeless Feria. Sooner or later there won't be any of us left, and when that happens, I'd rather not leave this world with a fellow Warden as my enemy, no matter how difficult I find you to understand." A light tremble passed through his chin as he bit back a sting in his eyes. "You should understand...you should know the regret of not having had a chance to say goodbye. I want us to be at peace. Really, I do."
As Olsten spoke, her features dimmed and dropped. He was right. Unfortunately, he always was. Soon they all be gone, no matter how many battles they fought, win or lose. She clenched her fist and bit her tongue to stop any emotions from falling out. Feria did not want to die. And as much as it seemed like it, she did not want their race to die either. But here they were. The last dwindling numbers of their people, about to go to war. Even if just a few dragon wardens survived, they would spend their lives in hiding. In fear. There was no hope. They already lost.
She hadn't known it but tears had spilled from her eyes. She had wasted her time with the last Dragon Wardens being spiteful and distant. Zachary wouldn't have wanted it. He wouldn't have.
Feria shook her head and tried to wipe the tears away, but they kept coming and she felt like a helpless child. "I tried to push everything away." She mumbled. "After my friend died, I.. I only got worse. He was all I had, and it was only the start. It was so much easier to pretend not to care than to try. I knew we were lost from the beginning, but I didn't want it to be true."
"I want us to be at peace too." She finally said, her words sorrowful but firm. Feria meant term, with every fiber of her being.