j - fate knocks me to my knees

He caught the shift in the earthen man and, knowing nothing of Týrr's pining for the fire-kissed queen, took the affection for what he thought it to be worth. Tuwawi had drawn them both to Duskfire: that Týrr would soften at the news of her return brought Malachi little surprise. Surely he could relate, for though his encounter with Tuwawi had at first been estranged, he had easily sunk into her embrace. Loyalty to Tuwawi was what had kept Malachi here when she had been gone, and this same loyalty was likely what made the earthen man return.

But Malachi shook his head at Týrr's question. "I haven't seen her in a few days, but she's around," he admitted, and his ears turned back in uncertainty. For the past week the willowy man had chosen paths directly against Tuwawi's own, displacing his own position at the farthest distance from both her and Scarlett. The act proved strenuous to keep up, but so far he'd been met with success. Until he could sort out how to deal with Tuwawi's rage against Adlartok and Scarlett's concern for the boy, he was keen to see neither, for his judgements ran cycle like the sun and moon, shifting sides when he thought of each and finding no middle ground on which to stand. "It shouldn't take you long to find her," he added in neat conclusion, for though it pleased the man to be in Týrr's presence again, he was not ready to confide with him what had transpired before he'd returned.