[ the kick comes. then another. as if by the power of his boot he could beat this truth into her, that she was abandoned, that she was worthless. that the people she would die for were gone and had never wanted her in the first place. that kuruko had not belonged to her in years, if it ever had.
maybe it is suicidal and stupid to be doing this, she realizes, eyes closed against the pain as she waits for it to build and build and burst out of her as it had when that efra clansman had attacked her in her camp, while she was sleeping. recalls how his viscera had smeared on her face and ruined her salvaged bedding. she would not need to do it if her power rose out of her to protect her.
but it doesn't come. all that comes is the coughing, the blood from her own mouth, and the heat in her ears of aristaeus' rage. the furor won't rise.
if she doesn't want to die here, she has to fight for herself. the boot is, as it turns out, too solid to stab through. there's no hope there. but when he next kicks her, she grabs it and holds his foot there, curled in her bruised abdomen. she raises the knife to stab right through the soft hollow back of his knee, up into his thigh, at the spot that she knows will bleed and bleed and bleed. ]
no subject
maybe it is suicidal and stupid to be doing this, she realizes, eyes closed against the pain as she waits for it to build and build and burst out of her as it had when that efra clansman had attacked her in her camp, while she was sleeping. recalls how his viscera had smeared on her face and ruined her salvaged bedding. she would not need to do it if her power rose out of her to protect her.
but it doesn't come. all that comes is the coughing, the blood from her own mouth, and the heat in her ears of aristaeus' rage. the furor won't rise.
if she doesn't want to die here, she has to fight for herself. the boot is, as it turns out, too solid to stab through. there's no hope there. but when he next kicks her, she grabs it and holds his foot there, curled in her bruised abdomen. she raises the knife to stab right through the soft hollow back of his knee, up into his thigh, at the spot that she knows will bleed and bleed and bleed. ]