It was purely a reflex action. My brain calculated, didn't like the answer, and I dropped out of sight. How can the right move prove so very wrong? Why had my brain not calculated one step further and warned Kianna of the next move?
I see it coming. It's all in slow motion. She's running slowly for IzunZin, Satie slowly turns towards Kianna, I slowly scream in horror, but no sound comes out. The girl slowly starts to smoke, I'm still screaming "get down", she looks at me as her eyes turn to dust; the last thing she sees is me standing there helplessly.
Then I wake up, and realize this is no dream.
How could she have decided, as she woke up this morning "I want to throw it all away by walking into a death trap". She trusted me to keep her safe. When her magic failed in the room with the bull, I was there to sit with her. I failed her. Her mother trusted me to keep her safe. When her mother asked me to teach her and watch over her, she trusted me to keep her safe. She let me know in very clear terms: I failed her. The town council entrusted us to clear out the complex and keep it safe for the citizens. I have failed them. I told myself that I would keep her safe. I failed me.
She was a friend, she was a student, she was a child: now she is no more. I no longer deserve the trust my comrades have placed implicitly in me.
I will help restore Kianna to her normal state, and return to my aerie. If failure is all I can offer this world, I will retreat to a more suitable time - and convince my people to do the same.
Category: Posts. Storyline, Posts by Varden
