Lost Creek Hollow excessum

the world unraveled before his eyes, and germanicus felt that the only saving grace was not to have aquillius with him now.

he had not seen crowfeather so hardened, so edged in barkskin and grief; he wore loss as an armor. crowfeather may have thought of pharaoh as a force, but in this moment, the eagle only saw the one who he had loved more than life itself, and now might destroy in the same part.

the shadow ordered away wren and the riverclan man. he turned burning words toward silvertongue, and now her cries rent the air, desolate lamenting that turned his mouth to volcanic ash and suffocated the city of his yearning.

and the shadow — the shadow, breaking into a crystal sheen that did not shatter into tears; "i wanted to be shut of the palace and its expectations. i did not care about how it was done."

germanicus had been haunted in the fact thereafter, but never enough to speak, and now the ghosts forced his mouth open to reveal the limited nature of his spine, his morality, and the dereliction of his love.

all against the soft, broken weeping of the one he had truly used as a pawn.