Big Salmon Lake the queens justice

attn: @Merrick or @Caiaphas (not sure if they would have fled the scene and elected not to go here) or maybe @Praimfaya and @Dacio if they would have gone straight to the lake post phas meeting? not sure about timelines and where this might fall BUT this is post this thread AND this (an hour in between? WHAT IS TIME) so some time would have passed. other tags are for reference but will (eventually) join~

 

Hydra traveled with @Andraste at a rapid clip; there was no more time to waste. Pleased that the woman would stay to identify the wolves that sought to harm her own—that had, perhaps inadvertently, already done so—the woman was mollified, her attitude toward the white once-mother shifting to a better light as they moved. The woman, she knew, was not capable of much; she did what she was capable of, and Hydra supposed she felt grateful for that much. Without her they would not have known of these plans. It was always better to know, to be on guard and ready. 

They had the element of surprise on their side; Hydra would use this to her advantage. Wisely, the Queen kept downwind should those they sought be there already; her eyes were dark, darker still thanks to the shadows she kept to, and she prowled as a hunter would before setting themselves upon prey. 

She pictured him in her mind. How long had it been since she had last seen him? What would he be like now? It mattered not—Hydra felt she would know him anywhere, if not by sight then by scent. Hydra had told Mahler of what she would do should she see him again—but then, she had told the bastard himself. If he had killed the mercenary, he did more than test her patience—but then, he need not do that. All he needed to do was show himself and he would be the first to find the end of it. The end of everything. 

All he needed to do to survive was stay away; could he not do that? He had always been a witless beast—Andraste's judgment of his own wit she could not believe. Who with any brain would return to the body they took the life from? 

One eye. One eye. One eye. What a wise move, to take that from him. What a foolish thing to do to not take everything. Hydra had cared too much, then, for those who had shown they cared nothing for her; she knew better now. Would do better, now. Russet... had he been that shade? It had been so long she had last seen him she was not sure! 

The Queen would know him when she smelled him. 

They arrived to the lake, she and @Andraste, enshrouded by silence. The foggy atmosphere was nothing she was not used to navigating, even in battle. His voice—would she remember that? It mattered not—Andraste need only identify it, and she would do what must be done. Rob him of his life as he had robbed her sister of hers— 

Finally. 

She hoped that Vengeance had taken care of the other; if he had not finished what he had started, Hydra would ensure that she and her family saw it finished—she knew @Dirge would come soon enough, and with him perhaps either @Lyra or @Arcturus too; in this, she hardly cared for a fair fight against the cur. Life was not fair; he had taught her that terribly long lesson. A life ended, friendships forged that could not withstand the truth—well, she supposed she ought to thank him for the latter. But for the former? 

Her gaze shifted toward Andraste, her next move contingent upon what the lightningkissed sylph might hear, not a shred of mercy to be found on her stony countenance. She had come for blood; she had waited to know what the final drop of his tasted like for as long as she could remember. Perhaps then she would know peace. 

This control the bastard had was unsettling; he, possessor of her peace? 

Inhale—yes—exhale—but not for much longer.