Arrow Lake abbatia

now skippable!

germanicus did not respond as reyson swore.

reyson there, and then arsenio, the hardwater eyes spearing through the disgraced roman as if it were a pike of ice.

and still indignation roiled in germanicus, and anger, and pride.

a boy he had not met arrived with his father, presumably.

the imperator staggered backward, away from the vale wolves clustering around meadow.

pain throbbed through him as he sat down in the congealing blood of the cat, marveling crazily how three bleeding creatures ran with the same red.

more mud, to his throat, to his shoulder. germanicus did not intend to leave until he had seen meadow taken back to her home.

Reyson folloqed the orders of the boy of the Arche. He placed cobwebs in front of Imperator and glared at him with blue eyes.

Do you need help?

He was angry and he was hurt, but that didn't give him leave to be an asshole.

Antigone returned with a great deal of goosegrass and he began to let it soak the blood that was not being treated by the webs. Reyson had done a decent job, he thought… for a bumbling soldier. Meadow’s blood felt hot as he worked to tend her wounds. The boy’s dark eyes were piercing upon her face, praying that she would wake and tell him what else he might do to help her. He wanted to see the knowing expression on her face. He wanted to feel confident that she would return to their home and Antigone would work with her, learn from her. He could feel his chest tighten.

Arsenio’s anger was boiling over. He did not know how the soldier was so composed. He did not know how Reyson had not finished the job that the cougar had started on the Roman.

As he looked to the man with yellow eyes, he realized that Germanicus had turned the same shade of spoiled blue as the Pharaoh. He would take and take until he got what he wanted. He would not care who he hurt in the process. There would be no hope for reconciliation. He would never trust this man again.

Look at him, Antigone.

Arsenio’s breath was hot upon the air. He motioned for the boy to inspect Germanicus. Hatred boiled the blood in his veins.

This is the last kindness you will be shown by my family, by Epoch. If you are seen anywhere near our home again, you will wish you had died here this day. And as he spoke this, he realized that he wished there was more distance between Mereo and Epoch. They were too close, now. He was too close with this devil of a man who wore the face of a friend. Beneath those taciturn eyes, Germanicus was nothing more than a selfish pig.

Antigone moved to look at the man’s wounds, if he would allow it.

Reyson, help lift her onto my back. I will carry her the first half and you will carry her home.

Reyson moved to the task it was then his facade broke and he had to lift his head to the sky and blink back the tears.

He moved her with a gentleness that wasn't often seen in his movements. He would help keep her safe and then he'd carry her home.

Meadow did you want her to wake up or fade here? I can make another one about halfway back to Epoch if you'd like. Just let me know. *sweating*

It will be alright, Reyson.

Arsenio’s voice was soft. His head hung beside the other man. His glacial eyes watched as the scarred figure looked to the heavens. The Arche understood that he was overwhelmed. There was too much to take in and he had already been suffering mental instability. Hadn’t Germanicus known it? Why would he do this so openly? If the Imperator sought a secret affair with Meadow, he should have taken his mess elsewhere.

Arrogant. Nasty. The Roman did not deserve to live or to be treated. He was dishonor given form.

Careful with her. We will need to move slowly, carefully. The journey home will take time.

Arsenio looked to his son who appeared flustered by the Roman man.

Antigone did all he could to patch the wounds the Imperator had suffered. He felt that there was enough to hold him, to get him home. But the boy was now well-versed in these things, and he could not be sure. His mind was fixed on Meadow. He did not know what he would do if something happened to her. She meant so much to him.

Stepping back, he looked at the yellow-eyed man and nodded curtly.

Should get you home. You should have someone look at that right away. It- The grass and web won’t last long.

Then Antigone turned to assist his father.

Im okay for a travel thread or one when they’re home! Whatever you all would like!

The darkness claimed her—a place of comfort. Briefly, she would come to—the harsh and angry words of her Arche exchanged—threatening Germanicus. The flutter of her lashes, gaze falling upon Reyson who looked to the sky, broken.

She wanted to tell them Germanicus had saved her from the cougar—but her throat was on fire and dry. Her jaw could not move and as Antigone’s familiar form came to view, tending to the Imperator,  she felt her heart wrench at the mere idea of him having to see what wounds had been inflicted upon her.

She would try to speak, but nothing would come—and the darkness would claim her once more. For now, she could feel the whisper of movement, her body being lifted. She wanted to insist she could walk, but she could not come to—her broken form draped over her leader, a paw dangling from the side as the Epochian would begin the journey home. 

Long forgotten and left behind were the herbs she had originally come for, any semblance of the control she had hoped for long past, now.