Dreams in the realms of stories and magic are never just dreams. But dreams are never really dreams, either. Curious, that—prophecies written by the will of sleep. [ there's a pause. ] ... Or the will of another.
[ he seems faintly amused by the prospect. this isn't the first vision he's received, and with each comes a nagging voice that radiates in the coils of his brain: who put it there? what put it there?
Loki wasn't one to succumb to the will the universe, far from it.
there's a mutter of something beneath his breath, and the next step they take is up the stone stairs of Diasabile's spire. ]
[ Dany's missed his whimsical way of speaking. He is master of words, indeed, though there is always a glimmer of truth awaiting her if she wishes. Perhaps she wouldn't like it so well if her need was urgent, but they are ensconced in Diasbaile's dark beauty now, and the world doesn't burn.
And if he thinks their words are protected here, she believes him. ]
It was battle, [ she tells him, her feet making near whisper-soft sounds upon the stone as they climb, ] yet at first, I could not see my enemies. The maze of fire had burned away nearly all, but still, the flames reached heights I have never seen. [ She can taste the ashes upon her tongue as she speaks of it; never before had smoke troubled her so. ] Only magic can produce such fire, surely? And I--I was frightened, [ she admits. The word is not one she uses lightly. ]
Beyond the fire, I saw the fight. [ There's a pause as she thinks how best to describe it. She's unaccustomed to recounting her dreams to anyone; they have only ever belonged to her, and her alone. ] My enemies were beasts, Loki. Beasts made of metal, moving, destroying a great fortress. They would not stop.
[ no, she wouldn't use that lightly. fire and dragons? they go together like coffee and cream, and for her to say that the flames troubled her, well, that's something that strikes him. it seems off, odd, like a carrot among fruits. ]
Sounds painfully familiar, most likely because I've witnessed the same.
[ and it wasn't the first time. there were the visions of the godswar, the fear that still prickled in his belly when he recalled the dream in vivid colors and feeling. ]
Your premonitions aren't wrong. Something is coming. A very terrible, fiery something made from moving gears.
[ Had he? The corners of her mouth slope downward; she mislikes knowing so little. ]
I have never known steel to spread fire. [ Nor has she known beasts made of metal, moving. They should have melted. ] What power could make them rampage so? The eyes glowed, as my dragons' eyes do.
[ And which fortress had it been, that was being torn asunder? She's never laid eyes upon it before. ]
I'd wager ... that it's the same something that has the value hidden beneath your sternum. It's the power that binds you as a bridge between this world and your world. That's the only thing that has that much power.
[ shards.
he wasn't unfamiliar. there was a reason that Morla had sent him in a few directions for research on shardstuff, and he had a feeling that he knew exactly where he could pinpoint this, but it was a place that had yet been searched. it made him a little anxious. ]
[ Dany looks down at her breast. How strange it still seems to feel nothing there. She must ensure that the first naked shard she sees isn't her own. ]
Then someone, or many someones, has a great hoard of shards at their disposal. [ Her tone is more clipped. Has there ever before been a group of people with so many potential enemy factions in one place?
There's an exhale to release some of her lingering tension, and a pat upon his arm. He is already holding far, far more threads than she is. She won't pluck at a tapestry when the weaver is already so weighed down by his spools. ]
There were three ruins before them. I can see them still. [ The portions that revealed themselves to her had been clear--too clear. ] The steel dragons trampled a village, felled a spire, and plucked apart an immense fortress. It was well-built, better walled than any I have seen, but for one city that ensconced itself within three, [ she tells him, recalling the immense outside of Qarth's great defensive stronghold. She's seen some cities in her time, and this was built too strongly to be deconstructed with force alone. ]
shards for the dwarves, and shards for the monarchs. shards for the proclaimed Martin Maskmaker to shape the memory of so many faces worn through the last millennia. sigils and gods and the Void all turned to the shards; it began and ended with them and the fate that surrounded the gem the day it shattered. ]
The barons have been called to arms, and soon the spires will be warded. We are Unseelie, we'll just have to be ... distinctly cleverer than whatever lout decided to plague us with visions. [ Loki says a bit flatly, as if he just tasted something awful. ]
[ Dany's blood stirs at this, and no wonder. For all her lack of experience, she has already helmed three successive military strikes, and succeeded. Battle interests her. Tactics interest her. She'd wielded immense power in Slaver's Bay, but she'd shown true capability in how little she'd ensured she must use it.
For the first time since her arrival, she feels--stymied. She greatly mislikes being on the other side, the side that awaits orders. ]
I have not seen even a skirmish here. [ She raises her brows. ] What manner of strike?
That depends on resources. [ for him, he had been working on a few research and development projects that would give them a slight (and explosive) advantage. ] I've some idea of what this may be, but it's more difficult to tell on which side it will fall. [ here's his scheming face, like he knows more than he may be letting on. ]
The best would be to prepare. The Unseelie, while resourceful, lack the certain trait of ... oh, you know ... coming together properly and having cohesive goals in mind in times like this.
[ he begins rifling through the pockets of his pants in some kind of over-exaggerated, slightly dramatic manner. ]
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[ he seems faintly amused by the prospect. this isn't the first vision he's received, and with each comes a nagging voice that radiates in the coils of his brain: who put it there? what put it there?
Loki wasn't one to succumb to the will the universe, far from it.
there's a mutter of something beneath his breath, and the next step they take is up the stone stairs of Diasabile's spire. ]
So, please, tell me about it.
no subject
And if he thinks their words are protected here, she believes him. ]
It was battle, [ she tells him, her feet making near whisper-soft sounds upon the stone as they climb, ] yet at first, I could not see my enemies. The maze of fire had burned away nearly all, but still, the flames reached heights I have never seen. [ She can taste the ashes upon her tongue as she speaks of it; never before had smoke troubled her so. ] Only magic can produce such fire, surely? And I--I was frightened, [ she admits. The word is not one she uses lightly. ]
Beyond the fire, I saw the fight. [ There's a pause as she thinks how best to describe it. She's unaccustomed to recounting her dreams to anyone; they have only ever belonged to her, and her alone. ] My enemies were beasts, Loki. Beasts made of metal, moving, destroying a great fortress. They would not stop.
[ And she hadn't stopped screaming. ]
no subject
Sounds painfully familiar, most likely because I've witnessed the same.
[ and it wasn't the first time. there were the visions of the godswar, the fear that still prickled in his belly when he recalled the dream in vivid colors and feeling. ]
Your premonitions aren't wrong. Something is coming. A very terrible, fiery something made from moving gears.
no subject
I have never known steel to spread fire. [ Nor has she known beasts made of metal, moving. They should have melted. ] What power could make them rampage so? The eyes glowed, as my dragons' eyes do.
[ And which fortress had it been, that was being torn asunder? She's never laid eyes upon it before. ]
no subject
I'd wager ... that it's the same something that has the value hidden beneath your sternum. It's the power that binds you as a bridge between this world and your world. That's the only thing that has that much power.
[ shards.
he wasn't unfamiliar. there was a reason that Morla had sent him in a few directions for research on shardstuff, and he had a feeling that he knew exactly where he could pinpoint this, but it was a place that had yet been searched. it made him a little anxious. ]
no subject
Then someone, or many someones, has a great hoard of shards at their disposal. [ Her tone is more clipped. Has there ever before been a group of people with so many potential enemy factions in one place?
There's an exhale to release some of her lingering tension, and a pat upon his arm. He is already holding far, far more threads than she is. She won't pluck at a tapestry when the weaver is already so weighed down by his spools. ]
There were three ruins before them. I can see them still. [ The portions that revealed themselves to her had been clear--too clear. ] The steel dragons trampled a village, felled a spire, and plucked apart an immense fortress. It was well-built, better walled than any I have seen, but for one city that ensconced itself within three, [ she tells him, recalling the immense outside of Qarth's great defensive stronghold. She's seen some cities in her time, and this was built too strongly to be deconstructed with force alone. ]
no subject
shards for the dwarves, and shards for the monarchs. shards for the proclaimed Martin Maskmaker to shape the memory of so many faces worn through the last millennia. sigils and gods and the Void all turned to the shards; it began and ended with them and the fate that surrounded the gem the day it shattered. ]
The barons have been called to arms, and soon the spires will be warded. We are Unseelie, we'll just have to be ... distinctly cleverer than whatever lout decided to plague us with visions. [ Loki says a bit flatly, as if he just tasted something awful. ]
no subject
For the first time since her arrival, she feels--stymied. She greatly mislikes being on the other side, the side that awaits orders. ]
I have not seen even a skirmish here. [ She raises her brows. ] What manner of strike?
no subject
The best would be to prepare. The Unseelie, while resourceful, lack the certain trait of ... oh, you know ... coming together properly and having cohesive goals in mind in times like this.
[ he begins rifling through the pockets of his pants in some kind of over-exaggerated, slightly dramatic manner. ]
Herding cats, really.