Private Tales Read between the lines

[Talus]

A chuckle rang from the Archon's lips. The laughter held an odd sort of mirth, not forced, but inhuman. Talus had not noticed it at first, but it was there. A strumming of Adelaid's voice, as though almost played across an instrument. His brow furrowed, his gaze continuing to slowly flicker around the room, searching.

There was something they were missing, something they didn't understand. "Threats are only dangerous when you can carry them out, dear."

Adelaid mused out loud.

It was only then that she finally turned. Shifting in her seat to regard the two Dreadlord's who had intruded into her lair. Talus immediately noting the change in the woman's eyes. Both her pupils having turned to lengthy vertical slits, almost snake-like in nature.

"But it seems you've forgotten who it is you're speaking to." The Archon said as she slowly stood from her chair. "Perhaps you are due a lesson in humility."

Her head cocked to the side. "Maybe when I'm done with you, I'll ensure your legacy, becomes mine."

A wicked grin spreading across Adelaid's face as she spoke.

 

[Zana]

Over twenty years of Dreadlord training was the only reason why Zana's expression didn't change when the Archon turned around.

"Oh I've not forgotten," she purred, her sword lazily playing over the back of her hand before coming back to her palm. "I made the world stop, what have you done Adelaide? Butchered a dragon? How brave."

The other Archon laughed.

"Why would I kill the beast when it is far more useful to me alive? I am not a common Butcher."

Find the dragon, that was what they were here to do after all. I'll keep her occupied.

 

[Talus]

A frown pulled at Talus’ lips as Zana’s sending echoed through his mind.

He could still feel that powerful unease which ran through him. There was something they were missing, a piece that they didn't understand. Adelaide was too confident. The Archon was powerful, there was no question to it, but there was little doubt in his mind that she knew the quality of the two Dreadlords in front of her.

Zana alone would have been a challenge for most Dreadlord's, even Archon's, but Talus himself was no slouch. Adelaide had to have known that, Nassau knew it, and although the man oozed confidence upon their meeting there had still been an air of respect. Something was different here, off, but Talus couldn't say what it was.

Anxiety flickered through his stomach, but the former Guardsmen did not let an ounce of it show. Be careful.

He urged.

She's trying to trick us somehow. As he said the words through their bond, Talus body suddenly shifted. His form taking on the aspect of a wraith as he snapped from the material world.

Almost as soon as he did, one of the vines which had crept up the wall. It flew through the air, drawing through the room and slashing just where Talus' had been standing. Missing him by only an inch, a strange sort of shift pushing through the air as it moved. “Oh. He's quick.”

Adelaide said with a grin, as the tendril suddenly turned and twisted. Lashing towards Zana at incredible speed.

“Let's see if you picked up a step.” The Archon said, as three more of the vines lashed out.

 

[Zana]

The last time Zana and Adelaide had fought, she had merely been a Level Three Dreadlord, and had hidden her true strength at the urging of her House and Sloan. Now, she was an Archon in her own right. She had killed two of them in the Revolution and more than her fair share of Level One and Two Dreadlords. Her magic had awoken a being that had been sneered about by many of her peers as a figment of fancy. Adelaide might have heard of her antics, but she hadn't seen it for herself yet.

Blades of energy sliced at the vines that wound towards her, and the one that made it past the guard of her magic met her dragon-forged blade with a hiss, crumpling to the floor like a burnt out husk. Adelaide merely smiled as their eyes met.

"At least you will not be boring, I suppose," she mused and the two Archon's clashed together once more.

The walls shook where Talus was with the force of the magic being thrown back and forth, but Adelaide had not forgot him either. The same vines that had just tried to snare him seemed to whip out from every room he stopped in, grappling for any purchase on his form when it flickered to existence. They seemed worse if he tried to go in a certain direction through the pyramaid, as though they were guarding something.

 

[Talus]

Adelaide’s smile was not for nothing.

Every tendril Zana sliced shifted, and then suddenly reformed. Each of the vines split, growing into two and drawing forth. Those ends which had fallen to the ground struck the base of the floor and then suddenly twisted into the stone. Solidifying themselves in the rock before they too reformed and whipped back towards Zana.

The Archon didn't move from her spot, instead she watched her for with hawkish eyes. Not as a predator would prey, but studying. Seeking understanding, as only a woman of her Intelligencer ever could.

For his own lot, Talus never gave the tendrils time to catch him.

Whatever magic Adelaide had enchanted her pyramid with, it had apparently not account for one who could step through the ethereal world. The vines snapped towards him, and Everytime they came close the former Dreadlord simply stepped from the material world. Phasing through whatever wall or floor was closest. Moving as quickly as he could.

Each time he reappeared though he found the tendrils waiting. As though the pyramid itself were tracking his movements. The deeper he stepped into the ancient tomb the more it seemed to respond.

As Talus snapped back into reality one final time, his head whipping left and then right, one of the vines lashed around his leg. ”Shit!”

He swore, as it whipped him up and bashed him against the nearest wall.

 

[Zana]

Sweat began to bead on Zana's forehead. Though she had been gifted the Archon status, she had spent a year afterwards with little magic and after its return had only had a year to practise the new mass of magic that lived inside of her. Adelaide had had over two decades. Despite the discrepancy Zana kept the visage of being unruffled. Her only moves were the slash of a sword, but otherwise the two women were locked in a battle that did not require movements. Not when they operated at the level they did.

Zana knew half this battle would be won in the mental gymnastics the two played.

"Are you going to keep wasting my time with this?" she goaded.

Elsewhere in the pyramid the vines leapt at their chance to pin Talus further to the wall, snaking and binding him to the stone as if they sought to make him a permanent feature of the pyramid.

 

[Talus]

“Oh. Absolutely, dear.” Adelaide said, the smugness of her tone enough to rankle even a monk of Telerra.

The Archon didn't move an inch. Her fingers didn't move, her hands didn't twitch. Even her strange new eyes didn't flicker to follow along with her vines. Nothing indicated that she was even commanding the assault on her foe.

“I see you still haven't learned patience.” She chided. “I suppose that bulldog teacher of yours wasn't exactly known for it either.”

A small chuckle escaped her throat, and as the sound reverberated through the massive chamber a spark of magic erupted beneath Zana's feet. It was there for only a bare second, half a heartbeat of a moment, before suddenly the stone beneath her feet melted. Forming into a slurried pool just as dozens of vines shot forth and moved to grab Zana. “I'll teach you after I rip apart your mind.”

Adelaide sang mirthfully.

In the depths below, Talus felt the lashings of the vines around his skin. The vines grasping and pulling at him, dragging him against the wall and then suddenly piercing through his flesh. One stabbing into his shoulder, the former Dreadlord's eyes bulging as he felt magic being dragged from his body. As though the vines were attempting to steal his reserves.

”Shit!” Talus swore as he bent his hand, the broken blade twisting as he sliced through the vine that had stabbed into his shoulder. Furiously cutting to free himself as he fell to the ground with a thud. The vines almost immediately lashing to grab him once again, his form flickering in an instant as he slipped through floor and fell deeper into the pyramid below.

 

[Zana]

Zana cursed as the ground shifted beneath her. There was no time to move and she began to sink into the slurry. The more she shifted her legs the quicker they submerged - not that she had much time to focus on it. As the vines shot towards her she threw out one of the purple energy fields that she used as protective orbs. The vines sounded against it violently then when no holes began to appear, instead wrapped around it like a snake and began to crush it inwards.

Zana panted as she focused. With the vines momentarily distracted with breaking through she could give her attention fully to her legs. She forced the orb down bit by bit in an attempt to get her legs and feet inside. Then it would be a matter of moving the whole sphere.

It was not just her own panic that made her heart hammer though. She could feel Talus' as he wandered deeper into the pyramid.

Deep beneath the great structure the earth opened up into a wide tomb. At its very centre, curled snout to tail, was a slumbering dragon.

 

[Talus]

Talus landed with a loud thud. Crashing to the ground unceremoniously as he snapped back into the material world half-way through the chamber. A cloud of dust rising, and yet no vines grasping or reaching forth. The echo of his fall resounding through the massive chamber.

A groan escaped the former Dreadlord, fingers scraping gently against the ground as he took a deep breath. The broken blade in his hand ringing out against the floor as he slowly pulled it towards himself and flipped onto his back. A hand gently prodded at his ribs, Talus wincing as he felt the pain of a broken rib. For a moment he lay there, just a brief second of respite, before he forced himself to stand.

Eyes flickered bright blue as he peered through the darkness, head turning until his gaze fell to the massive snoozing dragon.

The huge beast did not stir, it's chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm as Talus' gaze swept over it. Around it's neck, a thick chain of iron. Dozens upon dozens of runes inscribed upon its length. A surge of elation flickered through the bond, a stark contrast to the anxiety he'd felt before, and a brief reprieve for Zana's heart.

”Now to do what I tell my children not to.” Talus said to himself, putting the tale of ‘Dodric Waking the Dragon' out of his mind and stepping forward.

Fingers pressed to his lips, and he let out a shrill whistle. The sound echoing through the chamber and loud enough to rouse even a mountain. Almost instantly the dragons eyes snapped open, it's massive head lifting from the earth as a snarl rang from its lips. The beast's huge maw opening, and in an instant snapping forward to try and bite Talus in half. The chain catching it before its maw could reach too far. A pathetic yelp echoing from the creature as it found itself stunted.

Talus bounded back, his hands raising in the air. ”Wowow! Stop!”

He called.

”I'm here to help!” The Dreadlord said as the Dragon's eyes narrowed, it's sinewy neck shifting to stare at the newcomer. ”I've come with one of your kind, we are friends.”

Talus spoke, taking a slow step forward. ”I mean you no harm.”

 

[Zana]

The dragon watched with suspicion as Talus spoke, her large golden eyes watching every step he took closer to her boundary. When he mentioned her kin however there was a flicker of hope in those deep golden pools. Hesitantly, her mind touched his.

"Who, human? Who has come?"

***​

"Tell me child, are the rumours true? Did you take anothers soul for the magic you now yield?" Adelaide asked in that sing song soft voice. Zana gritted her teeth. Even if she had wanted to reply all of her focus was taken up with trying to keep the vines above at bay whilst digging her legs out of the sinking pit.

She loosed a breath of relief when she felt something solid beneath her feet, her forcefield finally having worked its way through the thick sink pit. Dragging her legs out of the last remaining dregs she then pushed the field up against the vines. They resisted, doubling down on their efforts to crack through the shell but Zanas will was iron.

 

[Talus]

”We come with Azhrak.” Talus said, slowly reaching down to place his broken blade upon the ground. His hands both raising up as he took another step towards the dragon.

There wasn't much time.

He couldn't explain it, but he knew that the Pyramid somehow detected his journey here. Adelaide's magic seemed to have worked itself deep into the stone, and those vines had chased him through wall after wall. Though this chamber seemed oddly devoid of their grasp, he was not willing to bet his life on the fact that it would stay that way.

He needed this dragon to trust him.

”I am Talus.” The former Dreadlord continued. ”My wife is Zana, Peacebringer.”

Talus took another step forward. ”Let me free you, so that we may leave this place.”

He urged, taking yet another step forward so that he could reach the dragons chains. Gaze quickly flickering over the runes as he assessed which kept the steel in place and which bound themselves to the dragon. Desperate to get the great beast free.


“It's a cute piece of magic.” Adelaide said in her sing-song voice. The arrogance dripping from her tone. “Maybe eventually I'll have to use mine.”

The Archon said with a laugh.

 

[Zana]

The dragon closed her eyes as the name of the older dragon washed over her. There was a flicker of hope, then a great sadness that flooded Talus' mind as the creature seemed to forget her mind still touched his. She lay her head back down in an almost defeated manner.

Talus-Son-Of-The-King-Beneath-The-Mountain, a hum of recognition. You will not break them. I have tried, but she drains my magic even now for her whims.

With a push the energy field exploded outwards and the vines were incinerated with it. Once the debris cleared Zana found herself on firm ground once more, though she made sure to keep a touch of her magic over the soles of her shoes at all times; she refused to be swallowed up by another sink hole.

"Debasing yourself with dragon magic," a soft tsk. "I thought you better than that."

 

[Talus]

"Well...maybe I don't have to break them..." Talus said, more to himself than to the Great Dragon before him.

Breaking things, as it turned out, was something of a talent of his twin children. They had a knack for destruction, even when it came to things that shouldn't have been possible to break. More than that though, even when it came to the indestructible, the little tykes had a habit of finding new ways to cause chaos.

That was the intention here; cause chaos. "I am going to try something..."

Talus said.

"But it may hurt..." His eyes slowly flickered up towards the dragon. "Please try to stay still."

If these chains were draining the dragons magic, then it stood to reason that they would take all magic. If they simply drained the passive, what would happen if they interacted with something active? It was a foolish, childish notion, but perhaps that was exactly what was needed.

With a breath, Talus stepped forward, his hand flickering as he reached out and touched the chain.


"Debasing?" Adelaide said with a laugh. "Oh child, are you so stupid as to believe those silly little bits of Propaganda they taught you? Power is power, dear. It doesn't matter where it comes from."

Her tongue clicked as the vines Zana destroyed suddenly seemed to peel themselves back together. Each individual piece wriggling and crawling until they slowly began to warp together again. "Look at you, girl. Tired, worn. Already ready to fall on your last leg."

The vines drew together, coming into one piece, and then snapped forward. Lashing towards the Butcher of Vel Anir.

"It hardly seems like you're rea-" Just as Adelaide was speaking, something odd seemed to happen. The Vines flickered, and then phased into ghostly shapes. Each of the tendrils taking on the aspect of Talus' magic. Driving forward, and then through Zana as though she were not there at all.

 

[Zana]

"Am I?" Zana raised a brow as the vines passed through her. She forced the tiredness to dispel from her face, forced herself to suddenly stand as though she hadn't even tapped in to the beginnings of her strength. Like she had manipulated her. There was a flicker of doubt in the other Archon's face. Zana could almost read the other woman's thoughts; had this been a ploy to make her forget her husband? Had she underestimated her? Had her intelligence been wrong?

"You're barely into your Archonhood girl, there is no possible way..."

Then something flickered in Zana's eyes making the other woman trail off. An ancient presence. As she opened her mouth to speak Zana held out her hand palm forward and pushed.

The sound of exploding walls reached even the deep pit of the pyramid. Bits of debris showered down upon the pair as the runes flickered and dimmed. The dragons eyes never left Talus' face.

Azhrak aids your mate, but I do not know how long they can distract the witch.

 

[Talus]

The pyramid shook, and for the first time Adelaide showed a hint of doubt. As the wall came crumbling down and Azhrak slammed into the room, Tals could practically feel the whole building beginning to vibrate. As if the place was coming to life.

Stones began to move, vines began to regrow, and all at once they warped and twisted as the tomb fought back against the intruders. Adelaide herself turned, bounding far faster and further than any human had a right to. Moving back towards the end of the chamber and away from Zana, glancing back over her shoulder as a dozen of the vines lashes out towards the massive dragon in an attempt to snare it.

Below, in the depths of the Tomb, Talus took a breath. "Right. Take a breath. This is probably going to hurt."

The Former Dreadlord said in response to the captured Dragon. Steeling himself and righting his muscles as he shifted and then reached up towards the chain.

His magic flickered into being as he grasped the warped steel, and all at once he felt pain lance through him as the magic infused within the bonds began to drag his own power away from him. A scream echoed from Talus, but he pulled himself back and wrenched. Tearing the collar not from the Dragon's neck, but through it.

The now ghostly bonds shifting, and then falling to the floor with a heavy clatter. Breaking the stones beneath with their weight as Talus went falling back.

Tumbling to the ground, his chest heaving from the exertion.

 

[Zana]

Mid-fight Zana's magic guttered as the pain echoed up the bond causing her to gasp. Azhrak, however, never faltered. As the dreadlord took a moment to quest out towards her husband and ensure he was well, the furious dragon launched himself after Adelaide. He was far quicker than Zana could have thought possible but his jaws snapped forward, right on the Archon's heels. Another bite and he might even sever the woman in half. The vines which had been darting towards him seemed to brush off him as though, somehow, they recognised him and wished to do him no harm.

From beneath the pyramid a terrible, pained roar filled the cavern. Despite the female dragons best efforts to keep quiet the pain was indeed as bad as Talus had warned, if not worse. She lay quivering on her side once the runes were off her, her wing rising and falling as though she sought to get up but couldn't. Tentatively her snout quested out towards Talus whom she nudged to see if he was still alive.

Talus-Son-Of-The-King-Under-The-Mountain, do you live?

 

[Talus]

Adelaide laughed, though whether in genuine amusement or from fraying nerves would have been difficult to say. "No no, bad beastie!"

She called as the Dragon's maw opened, Azhrak's huge jaws spanning more than two men as he moved to slam his teeth into the fleeing Archon. The woman's shrill laughter still echoing out as she suddenly flicked a hand forward. A small bead rolling from her index figure.

In an instant, the pebble grew to the size of a boulder, and as Azhrak bit down upon it the stone fractured. Breaking apart and then turning to a massive explosion. Fire and stone tearing out from the rock as though it had been a grenade. The great Dragon letting out a roar of pain as shrapnel tore into his scales.

"I'm okay." Talus said within the depths below, his head swaying slightly as he felt the Dragon's nudge.

"We have to go." The former Dreadlord said, pulling himself up from the ground. "We're out of time."

He paused for a moment, hesitating. "We need to go up, as fast as possible. I can use my magic on both of us, but you'll have to keep me close."

For a moment, the Draogn seemed to hesitate. Narrowing it's eyes as she looked at the little Human, then, after a moment she tipped her head in a nod. Within the span of a second, Talus whipped himself onto the Dragon's back. His hands settling against her scales.

"Fly." He told her. "Straight up, and out."

A weariness flickered through the Dragon, but as it's wings spread, Talus felt the flicker of trust they had built. Steeling himself as they launched into the air, the world around them turning blue as both of then snapped from reality and moved into the ethereal realm.

 

[Zana]

What foundations the explosion hadn't disturbed were done so by the dragons great thrashing. His monstrous tail collided with one wall and then the other as he sought to tear the structure down and bury the Archon beneath the wreckage. Zana's head pounded with the mental connection Azkrak kept open between them. It was clear the dragon was out of practise sharing the depths of his mind with a mere human and she felt blood drip from her nose.

Raising her hands a dome formed to keep the debris from crushing them both, focusing her attention on the more vulnerable parts of the dragon such as his wings whilst leaving him still free to fight. This time when he lunged for Adelaide he was ready for her magic. In speed unthinkable for something of his size he moved aside the next small pebble that enlarged to become a tangle of swamp root, poisonous when even touched, and clamped his maw down upon her shoulder.

 

[Talus]

As the dragon bit down, Adelaide's flesh tore. Sinew, muscle, and skin ripped apart as the Dragon's maw clamped down onto the Archon.

Yet her steps didn't slow.

A moment of confusion drew through Ahzrak, his mouth tasting not of blood or meat, but a strange ash. A laugh escaping Adelaide's throat as she yanked herself forward from the Dragon's grasp. Shredding her own flesh as she pulled away and the dragon's strength tore free her arm.

The Archon spinning on her heel, the melodiously torturous sound of her joy echoing through the fallen chamber as from her hand she flicked up yet another pebble.

It flew up, landing against Ahzrak's stomach and exploding into a protrusion of air and force. Sending the huge beast flying backwards against some of the fallen stone. "Did you really think you'd found me?"

Adelaide called out to Zana through the cacophony of noise.

"Did you really think it would be this easy?" The Archon called, standing in place, now with only a single arm. Those odd eyes of her staring at her foe, no blood coming from the wound where half her torso had been simply ripped away. "Child, you have so much left to learn."

The Archon cackled. "You have no Idea wh-"

Before Adelaide could finish speaking, the ground beneath her suddenly buckled. The stone shifting as a flicker of a ghost appeared for half a second and then fully snapped back into reality. The pyramid's ground breaking apart as Talus and his new companion broke through the floor and into the main chamber. A cacophony of noise and sound echoing out as dust and debris cast every which way.

"Zana!" Talus called out from Dragon back, his mount spinning in a fury. "Time to go!"

He shouted, the pyramid around them shaking and tumbling.

 

[Zana]

A joy so pure rushed through her as Ahzrak set eyes upon the female dragon Talus rode. It made Zana so giddy she stumbled a step, her magic faltering for a brief minute before the shield reformed. The brief flicker was all they needed to see how close they were to relying almost entirely on Zana to not be crushed.

Come, Peacebringer.

Zana didn't need to be told twice. Using her telekinesis to propel her boots upwards, she in effect propelled herself onto the dragons expansive back. No sooner had she grabbed a hold of one of the large spikes that littered his back like mountain peaks, did he take off to join the other dragon. Together, with a blast of their own magic, they created a wide enough gap through which to escape into the open skies beyond.

 

[Talus]

As the two dragons burst out from the Pyramid, the ancient stone finally gave way. A crumbling roar echoed out among the trees as the huge blocks of carved earth tumbled into themselves. Collapsing piece by piece and sending the strange orc-like creatures fleeing in a thousand different directions.

Screams of panic echoed out, though it seemed most of the creatures were well clear of the building. They stood, marveling, as the massive beasts flapped their wings and called towards the sky. Dual roars echoing in within the clearing; triumph and mirth, spoken in the tongue of Dragons.

Talus did not share their joy.

As they flew, his gaze swept over his shoulder. Concern flickering through his and Zana's bond, not just for his wife; but what they had left behind.

The Dragon had been freed, but he'd seen Adelaide and heard the last of her call to Zana. The oddities within that Pyramid, the question of the creatures below. Talus did not understand it, and he felt a fool. They had discovered another piece of the puzzle, but instead of providing answers, they found only more questions.

 

[Zana]

"Those orcs down there are slaves," she called to the dragon over the wind, trying to ignore the feelings coming from Talus and her own heart. The great beasts would not care unless it affected them again and she needed time to process it. This, though, she could fix now. Seemingly understanding her intent, the red dragon swung back down towards the ground. The orcs scattered at his approach and those that hadn't threw themselves prostate on the floor when he landed.

YOU ARE FREE TO GO, the dragon's voice boomed in each of their minds, halting those who had fled. IF YOU RETURN TO THIS PLACE YOU WILL SUFFER OUR WRATH. Zana sighed. It hadn't been exactly the speech she had had in mind but it seemed the simple threat was better understood by the orcs who began picking one another up and gathering what they could to take with them... Well, Zana didn't know well. She just hoped it was far away from here.

Seemingly content, the dragon once more launched himself into the sky to join his fellow beast and Talus. Without further word they set a course towards their home.

 

[Talus]

The flight home was swift, both Dragons eager to be away from their place of pain, and their riders anxious to return to the children they had left behind.

A day and a little more was all it took. In that time Talus slipping through the air so that he could join his beloved upon the back of Ahzhrak. The two embracing after the tumult of the pyramid, and then discussing what it was they had seen. Both agreeing that Adelaide had done something to herself, or perhaps twisted another being to resemble something close to what she had once been.

It seemed the Archon had done more than just steal the magic of Dragons, but had somehow changed it too. Questions remained, but as the mountains of the spine once again came into view; Talus' thoughts turned only to their children.

An eagerness flickered through the bond, and as the two dragons set down upon the mountain the Former Dreadlord all but bounded down from their mount.

"Thank you." He called, the sun long set. "There are many questions still unanswered."

Talus said, a frown touching his lips. "But, we promise you, those who have done this will pay by the end."

He finished, glancing to Zana.

 

[Zana]

We shall help, the female dragon interjected before Ahzhrak could earning herself a sharp look from the latter. Zana tried to keep her face composed but during the trip she had begun to suspect the two might be mates. He certainly had on the sulky look Talus sometimes got when she said she hadn't made bolognese that night.

"You are kind to offer," she gave a small bow and the female dragon preened. "We will be in touch when we have further information."

The rest of their goodbyes were swift and then finally they were walking towards their home. Every window let out a yellowish light showing the inhabitants were all awake. Zana ran a hand down her face.

"I'm not sure if fighting an Archon is more exhausting or the prospect we are just in time for bath time."

 

[Talus]

Talus let out a laugh, his head shaking. ”We can only hope that Brigitte has built us some sort of contraption to make it easier.”

The former Dreadlord said with a grin.

Brigitte was an amazing craftswoman, her magics able to imbue enchantments within weapons, armor, and everything in-between. The capabilities of the things she made not determined by her, but seemingly fate itself. Once, the Smith has described the process to Talus, likening it to throwing a branch into a river. You did not know where the branch would end up, just that it would be downstream.

When she created something, it was similar. Brigitte knew that her creation would hold magic, and she could shape it somewhat, but at the end the effect would be what it would be. Often most Influenced by the materials and place of forging, rather than by the Dreadlord herself.

”Maybe a bath that chases the children and gets them into it on its own.” He suggested. ”Or a towel that automatically dries someone off. That would be handy.”

Though he'd never known Brigitte to be much of a weaver. “ALEC! PUT THAT DOWN!”

A shout echoed from the house, and Talus couldn't help the grin that spread over his face.

“That's for your mo-” Before Brigitte’s shout finished echoing out, a loud explosion of glass could be heard as something was thrown through the front window.