#01×01: A Searing Burst of Light

[stromuprisahat]

Alina: “He [Sturmhond] has both otkazat'sya and Grisha on his crew.“

Malyen: “No First or Second Army, just...“

Alina: “Equals. Imagine if our camps were run like this, First and Second Army together.“

Malyen: “The food would taste much better.“

Are you fucking kidding me? Whose fault it is that Grisha need to be separated? (Pretty sure they’d answer the Darkling’s, but fuck ‘em.) What happens anytime Grisha are mentioned by average Ravkans? I mean...

Malyen: “This is why our tents got moved. Grisha wanted more space. [To train...]“

Alina: “Ugh. Grisha.“

Malyen: “Show-offs.“

01×01

Malyen: “Where are they taking her?“

Zoya: “She'll be fine. She's in good hands.“

Malyen: “Not while she's around Grisha.“

01×02

... hypocrites too much?

[chimeracreations-art]

MECH A DAY:01 cerberus bio - frame brought you by Ember rose collective

Hey going to be trying my had at doing a thing this month were i try and make a mech or mechanical design a day for this month since I'm tired of not really getting a chance to work on much of the things i want to with stuff. going to try and write up some lore for each of them too don't know if it'll be good but i want to TRY and get better at writing too so this be a way to hit two birds with one stone.

if you like this and want to help me out with making stuff like this and trying to be more creative for myself my kofi and patreon are on the sidebar of my page.

LORE. after there defection during of the first Cradle war the E.R.C was at a loss as to how to process the post war edicts that had been pass down to them by the nova accords. by degree, the pride and face of the E.R.C the RAPTOR-R-BIO-2X was outlawed as well as several of it base technology's. the venerable machine used by the earth collation to savage the many outer colonies and bring about the massacre on dauntless was enough to restrict the broad strokes of the technology but once they found out about the after effects of the full integration interface system on the pilots and how the E.R.C had been complicit in allowing that to happen do to the earths interest for brutal elite soldiers, the nova council almost had most of the board executed and the company dispended. This was initial judgement was walked back after an impassioned speech by the head of the board as well as the reminded that the E.R.C had switch side and provided a series of countermeasures for many of the earths more devastation weapons' and defenses in the towards the end of the war and did allow the company to not be savaged like that of the vanguard technologies or tri-oceanic's group. the trials and meeting of nova council would find much of the tech that the collective had been there cutting edge in the markets of weapons design and planetary colonization had been outlawed by there decree regardless of there own pleas.

unable to move forward with the previous project and not will to rock the boat in the post war period with so many eye on them, the E.R.C decided to work around there current limitations. as while they could not mess the consciousness of pilot and machine, they could at least create a in-between system with the creation of the pseudo-brain. a imperfect creation of a human brain that can be linked up with two other brains into a internal network of a bio-frame. this network will take the imputes from a more standard pilot interface and help to intuit and learned from the pilot making there own reflexes faster and allowing them to quickly react and deal with situations as they com. alongside that the bio-frames biological systems means that normal anti system attacks are near impossible and the collective promises of a the development communication brain has many interest peaked at the prospect of subverting jamming technology. outfitted with a more modest version of the raptors weapons' and lacking many of it biologicals weapons' the Cerberus boasts two high medium particle cannons in two of it arms, another two have a pair nano-seared talons and a small burst laser mounted on it wrist to help add an extra punch while the talons dig into it targets. it armored with a series of light plating and nano fiber layer over top the base bio-frame to give moderate protection to it internal components. to make up for it lack of extreme fire power and armor it predecessor had the Cerberus has been design to have an extreme speed of 97.2 km/h surpassing it predicators 64 km/h as well as being flight capable.

Still the system was not with out it flaws, it still retained the weakness to electrical pulse weapons' that would cause the biological systems to short circlet and finding after the initial test run the engineers sound found that they had a problem as each of the brains after a point would begin to over react with stimulate and run rampant. this rampant while rare is still a major concerns as most are unsure why and how the brain seem to be overloading the other more less know is the brain mimicry of the pilots action seems to represent a problem were some aspect or part of the pilot is being copied over into the brains network. Still the Cerberus has been moved into full production in spite of these problems as well as concerns from any compliance board can be fixed with a bit of economic leveraged as the E.R.C may be humbled the still retain much of the benefits for there time creating the RAPTOR for it time as a primary weapons' manufacturer for the earth collation.

(if there any spelling or grammatical weirdness sorry wrote this all in one sitting before i had to get to work on commissions.)

originally posted on cohost

[ghafahey]

SHADOW & BONE, SEASON 01 EPISODE 01 — A Searing Burst of Light

every ghafahey scene ever: 1/??

[itachis]

Tell me what happened in the fold. What saved you? You won't believe me. It was a sun summoner.

SHADOW AND BONE | EP:01 → a searing burst of light.

[marvelousgeeks]

Welcome to the Shadow Fold, Grishaverse. The time is now, the day is here, and we’ve got a lot to breakdown.

First things first about these reviews, I have not read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, my expertise in both book and TV verse lies with the Six of Crows duology. And for the sake of these reviews, I’ve done a bit of research here and there, but for this season, my point of view when it comes certain parts will be based strictly on what the adaptation tells us.

“A Searing Burst of Light” is a solid premiere that sets the stage up so intricately, it’s an immediate sell. I came into this knowing absolutely nothing and really thought to myself, I’m sure I could pace myself with an episode, maybe two a day. I’m sure I won’t be that invested cut to putting aside all my work for the day to binge the entire series because that’s how easily it hooked this non-book fan.

We get into the series with a voiceover by our leading lady Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) stating that when she was little, she was afraid of the dark but as an adult learning that “darkness is a place and it’s full of monsters,” which thus serves as the episode’s main theme in revealing that each of these characters, however martyr like they may be presented to be, all have monsters within them. It’s something that we’ll point carries out to the end as well. And that’s certainly enough to keep someone like me, who’s often fond of complex characters, thoroughly invested.

Continue Reading

[amaranth-or-circe]

task 01: ignorance is bliss

A spray of seawater salted her lips. Refreshingly cool droplets on a bracingly hot day. She was at the cliff of an island, watching a boat come to shore, a boat with men scurrying around it like ants on the decaying flesh of some poor bird. And there was the man she had seen...

She was inside now, seated on her throne of fig-tree and yew, perfumed and anointed, and the man was before her. He held her around her knees and he looked so pitiful, so weak and dazed...

The man was leaving now, strengthened and invigorated, his ship gleaming and heaped with supplies. She knew she would not see him again.

Yet around her the world changed. She was in a house she did not know and the floor was wet with blood and the air was heavy with screaming and crying. She walked unaffected through the carnage, the blood not seeping through the wool dress that she wore. Around her were the bodies of men, agony on their faces, eyes glazed over like dead fish at a market. Slaves wept in fear as they cleaned the floors and walls until they were shiny and new, even as they dragged the bodies of the slain men with crimson blood still leaking from their bodies.

Their clothes were still bloodied when they were taken out to the courtyard, and suddenly she saw the man. A bloodied monster, she could barely see his skin under the gore. His eyes were hard and cold like flint as he and a man who looked like he could be his son tied the slave women's hands behind their back. And all Amaranth could do was watch as this man who had looked so pathetic, so weak and needy, as he strung up each slave girl by their necks and laughed as their faces twisted in agony, as they soiled themselves and wriggled until they suffocated in death. She was forced to watch as they then took out a male slave, as they disfigured him with malice and glee and then ordered the remaining slaves to clean the blood from his body.

And now she was watching Tomislav walk amongst a meadow. With every step she took the grasses and flowers wilted until they were ashen. Her eyes flashed with searing fire as she dove her sword into the belly of a man sniveling on his knees.

Amaranth was green with guilt, she wanted it out of her, wanted to be sick with it for a vague notion of catharsis. If she could only feel worse, perhaps she could feel better.

But as she bent down on her hands and knees, heaving, something all together different took over her. It started with her bones, a deep ache that made her sob, that made her sight burst with light. They grew, elongated, thickened, and yet they shrank, collapsed in on themselves, fused. Her joints snapped and pulled and inverted. Amaranth sobbed and looked at her hands, watched as her fingers contracted with gruesome pain, as her fingernails elongated and grew hard. By now she could no longer sob, she could only squeal, a high pitched, horrifying squeal as her organs twisted around in her body, as her skin thickened and she cemented into this new body. As she was trapped in the mind of a beast which sought company, food, water. Amaranth was a prisoner in her own mind.

She could not look up. She walked along a cold tunnel, too narrow for her to turn around. She could not look up, but she could imagine something above her. She did not want to walk forward, but her animal mind was in control, so she moved onwards. Onwards until she was on some muddy, straw sewn floor, her hooves sinking. There was something above her but she could not look up. She smelt iron, and then she smelt nothing more as the abattoir's blade cut through her spine. She fell to the ground, her eyesight going dim, blackness closing over her.

And then she awoke.

Amaranth was wet with sweat, gasping in air as she looked up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Sigils painted in white above her, dried herbs and crystals hanging from the ceiling, all had done nothing to stop the nightmare that still lingered in her subconscious. Amaranth trembled, then scurried out of her bed to find a bucket to be sick in, trying to purge the bad taste in her mouth as the guilt refreshed itself. Twelve pairs of feet twitching in the wind, blood soaked dresses, dead bodies impaled by a bounty hunter's sword. Amaranth fell to the ground, sobbing as she curled in on herself.

[wonderlandmind4]

Delicate Stages Chp 49

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x OFC Ana Rios

Summary: Bucky Barnes agrees to participate in Deprogramming Sessions. What he gets is not anything like he expected.

Warnings: Language. Violence. Blood. Fighting.

Words: 3.5k+ @justreadingfics @nerdyandproud9 @buffy-morgendorffer-01​

He slams her against the wall, knocking the gun out of her hand. Ana kicks his knee cap with her left foot, Erik shouting out in pain. She breaks away from his hold, taking the chance to go for the gun. 

She stops short. The metal of the gun gleams against the crimson light, barrel pointing straight at her held by Bucky. There's a split moment where time stands still as they stare at each other.

Then, the Winter Soldier pulls the trigger.

***

Gun fire echoes loudly throughout the room, ringing in Ana's ears. Time freezes for one long moment. She exhales. When no pain comes, Ana slowly turns around. Erik Woods is on the ground, clutching at his bleeding chest. The wound looks fatal, but she isn’t sure that’s enough to keep him down.

Footsteps behind Ana draws her attention back to Bucky. He’s inches away from her, holding the gun at an angle, still pointing at her. He flicks his thumb and the chamber of bullets fall to the ground, quickly followed by the gun itself. Bucky reaches his hand out, cupping the back of Ana’s head and drags her forward, searing their lips together.

She gasps into his mouth, practically melting into his arms. "You scared the fucking hell out of me!"

"I'm so fucking sorry." Bucky mumbles against her lips. He gently pushes stray hairs back from her face, damp from sweat.

"You came back to me, Bucky." She whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. She kisses his lips harder, ignoring the stinging cut on her own.

Bucky pulls back and the soft, relieved smile only last two seconds. He frowns, moving his thumb to the left corner of her mouth. Ana does the same to his, wiping away a smear of blood. It should be gross, and completely unsanitary, but she doesn't give a damn at this moment. She’s just happy to have her Bucky in her arms.

“Gotta get you out of here.” He tells her urgently, dragging his hands down her face, to her tender neck and down her arms; tracing the developing bruises. "Give me one second."

Ana watches as Bucky steps on the chair, ripping one of the guns from the machine. He hands it to Ana to hold. Then he bends down, gently hooking the back of her knees over his left arm and wrapping his right around her back. Ana secures her arm over his neck, awkwardly holding the large gun against her body as he picks her up and hurries out of the room.

“What about dickless over there?” Ana questions darkly, glancing over Bucky’s shoulder. Erik is motionless.

“I’ll deal with him later.” He growls, his voice low; malicious. “Need to get you to safety first.”

Ana turns her gaze to Bucky. She can sense unadulterated loathing radiating off him, can nearly see it tainting is aura. His expression is murderous, and she briefly wonders if he isn’t fully broken out of his Winter Soldier mode. The blue of his eyes are darkened with ferocity, the muscle at his jaw twitching, his mouth set into a firm line.

Bucky is enraged. She has never seen him this angry before. It should frighten her, but not once has she been scared of him since he came into her life. Ana knows, believe with every ounce of her heart, that she is the safest with him no matter what.

“Bucky.” She murmurs, bringing her right hand up to his face, brushing her fingers against his bearded jaw. “I’m alright.”

His nostrils flare, his mouth twitches, his forehead glistens with sweat. He tightens his arms around her, practically running down the hall. "I will make him pay for ever fucking touching you. For everything they’ve done to you."

Ana kisses the joint of his jaw, hair soft beneath her lips. She tightly cradles the gun against her torso, and places her hand gently on his chest. His heart is flying. Though she can't figure out if it’s because he's anxious to get out of the building, is still feeling the affects of being triggered, or has to do with Ana herself.

"Are you okay?" She inquires, rubbing her thumb over his shirt.

"I'm fine, love." Bucky answers softly, so unlike the tone he just used. He pauses as he picks up on voices. He presses a quick kiss to her temple. "You're safe now."

He makes a decision and turns down another path, quickly checking around the corner before jogging down the hallway. Ana winces as the movement jolts her knee. She glances at it, a dark spot that trails down her ripped jeans, soaked with her own blood. She removes her hand from Bucky's chest, gingerly pressing her fingers on the out side of her knee. She hisses in pain.

"Will you be able to run if need be?" Bucky checks, slowing his pace.

"Not sure." Ana exhales, resting her head against his shoulder for a moment. 

She’s beginning to feel every aching pain throughout her body; her throat sill sore, her lips and cheeks stinging, her knee throbbing. Exhaustion seeps heavily in her bones. Her eyes flutter shut. 

"Adrenaline is slowing down." Ana barely murmurs.

Bucky is saying something, but she hardly pays attention, yearning to sleep. She thinks she may have blacked out briefly, for the next moment loud voices echo up ahead, causing Ana to jerk to awareness. Her burst of powers she used earlier has caught up to her. Bucky stops at an intersection of four hallways. 

"I have to put you down, darlin’. Wait here."

He carefully lowers her. His hands are tight on her hips as Ana steadies herself, keeping the majority of her weight on her left leg. Bucky takes the gun, cocking it and pulling the lever, adjusting it in her hands. He glances over his shoulder as the voices grow closer. He turns back, hooking his finger under her chin, tenderly pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Keep it poised, and the second you see it's anyone but me, you shoot." He instructs firmly, his blue eyes burning with protectiveness. "Do not hesitate."

"Buck-"

"You're hurt and exhausted, Ana. I need you to protect yourself. Shoot first, ask questions later." Bucky pecks her forehead, gripping her shoulders. "Promise?"

Ana nods.

"I'll be right back."

"Be careful." She rasps, as he lets her go and runs quietly down the hall.

Ana stares after his retreating back, leaning against the wall next to her. She takes a moment to just breathe, to revel the fact that her and Bucky had escaped that room, despite knowing it might be premature. It takes several seconds, but suddenly the voices get louder, someone is shouting. 

She hears a quick scuffle, loud thuds, and a few gun shots. She tries to keep her heart calm, knows that Bucky is highly capable of handling more than one person at a time. It doesn't stop her worry though.

Running footsteps race towards her. Ana locks her arms, placing her index finger on the trigger. She pushes herself off the wall, shifting her weight on her left leg. The footsteps grow closer and closer, then Bucky rounds the corner, holding another semi-automatic rifle, and a Glock. A knife gleams in the lights, tucked into the belt of his jeans. Ana lowers her gun with relief. He reaches her, an intrigued smirk pulling up the corner of his mouth. He pulls the knife from his belt, tucking it carefully into her own.

"Ya know," Bucky begins, a hint of mirth in his voice. "You look hot holding that gun."

"Are you honestly flirting with me right now, after we've been kidnapped, nearly tortured and mind wiped, and probably going to be fighting for our lives?"

He pauses. "Yes."

"Well, okay then." Ana smiles at him.

"C'mere." Bucky pulls her closer to his body, being careful of her injured knee. He kisses the uninjured corner of her mouth. "I love you, Annie."

Ana leans against him, inhaling his scent. The fading smell of woods, sweat and something a little metallic- given that some of the blood from her knee has stained his shirt- oddly comforts her. She loves every bit of him. She kisses the center of his chest, over his beating heart.

"Love you too." She mutters.

"Lets go." He pulls back, makes to carry her again.

"I can walk. Promise." Ana tells him, but she grabs onto the hem of his shirt anyway.

Bucky seems like he's going to protest, but they don't have any more time to waste before Erik decides to find them again, if he hasn't died yet. He nods, then leads the way down the hallway to their right.

*

Ana is limping, each step sending a sharp jolt of pain through her knee. She grinds her teeth a few times, forcing steady breaths through her nose. Several times, Bucky stops to check around corners, to scan hallways for any doors or exits. Each time he does, he checks on Ana, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. Each time, Ana nods, masking her pain.

After walking for a few minutes, they hear sounds of fighting several yards ahead. A door opens and two men run out of a room. They spot Ana and Bucky, quickly pulling out their guns. Bucky already had his gun up, taking aim and fires, hitting the men in the stomachs and legs. They fall to the ground shouting in pain, blood spirting from the wounds.

"You only nicked their arteries." Ana notes, staying behind Bucky as he approaches the men.

"A quick death is too good for them. They’ll likely bleed out." Bucky responds with a dangerously low tone. He kicks their guns out of reach. Abruptly, his cold gaze morphs into a grin. 

"Would you like to do the honors, babe?"

His smile looks just a tad off. Ana doesn’t blame him, in fact, she’d rather leave the men as they are in the hallway. She places a comforting hand on his cheek for a moment, Bucky’s eyes fluttering. He kisses her palm before she drops her hand.

Ana turns her attention to the men. She recognizes one of the them as the guard she fought in the Lab. Erik’s confession of Hydra having a hand in her parents death repeats in her mind. Anger surges up her spine, radiates from her body causing the overhead lights to spark and pop. The section of the hallway darkens, dimly light by an emergency light. Instead of knocking them out, she aims the gun at them.

Her finger teases the trigger. A delicate loving touch brushes her elbow, a silent reminder that Bucky is right behind her. Comforting, supporting, understanding, all conveyed through his energy.

“I understand your anger, sweetheart,” Bucky speaks kindly. “But you aren’t a killer, Ana. I am, but you aren’t.”

Swallowing thickly, Ana turns the gun around, thrusting the blunt end against the side of his head, hard, knocking him out. She does the same for the other agent. She spots another knife, and pulls it off the man, twirling it expertly between her fingers before sliding it into her left boot.

Bucky has the decency to roll his eyes before beckoning her along. Ana stops him, grabbing his had, squeezing as hard as she can.

“You aren’t a killer,” Ana reprimands. “Not to me.”

They’re aware they don't have time to argue this topic, so Bucky just lifts her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. “Let’s go.”

They hear more fighting, more shouting. Bucky holds his arm out before they reach a set of metal doors, checking back at her once more. Ana nods, determine to fucking leave this place. Guns at the ready, Bucky kicks the doors open. They come face to face with Hawkeye.

There's a moment of relieved surprise washing over Ana, before Clint pulls his bow back and releases. The arrow flies over her shoulder, hitting someone behind her. When she turns to look, another guard had been sneaking up behind them. Bucky turns, slamming the doors shut, then roughly kicks off the handle.

"Sorry it took so long." Clint quips, jerking his head for them to follow him. "That GPS in your arm was on the level of Map Quest."

"Tony's going to kill you for that." Ana responds, smiling despite the situation. She surveys around the room, a large open area that looks more like a hanger for planes than anything else.

Bucky inform Clint of what happened, or at least the shortened version of it. Up ahead, Ana spots more guards fighting, and it suddenly dawns on her that this is a unknown Hydra facility. A flash of red and gold whizzes through the air, Ana's heart soaring in her chest; Tony. Next she watches as Natasha takes down four Hydra agents without breaking a sweat.

"Is everyone here?" Ana questions, her heart swelling with the notion. She stumbles reaching out to the nearest thing, which happens to be Clint's forearm.

"Of course." He scoffs, gripping her elbow. “Did us think we wouldn’t all come for you both?” His expression morphs into concern. "You alright? How injured are you?"

"Woods shoved a fucking five pronged disk in her knee. Disabled the rods.” Bucky tells him, his tone murderous again. "We need to get her out of here, now."

Clint helps Ana straighten up, only to pass her over to Bucky. "The Quin-jet is hovering just above the roof access there. We'll clear a path as much as we can." He presses two fingers to his ear. "Do guys copy that?"

Ana grips Bucky's arm. "I want to help."

He shoots her a hard look, his blue eyes blazing. "Abso-fucking-lutely not!”

"Bucky."

He tucks one of the guns under his arm, placing his hand on her face. "Ana, please. For once, just protect yourself. I'm getting you out of here."

His point is made when bullets suddenly fly towards the three of them. Bucky drops the one gun, shielding Ana away with his left arm. They tinker off his arm as they hurry behind a stack of metal crates. Once they're out of the way and the bullets stop, both of them pop out from behind their cover, firing their weapons.

Ana quickly runs out of ammo, cursing the stupid guard who was too lazy to put in a new magazine. Clint fires an arrow across the room, exploding into a small group of Hydra agents. Ana feels her skin prickling, can feel the surge of energy racing up her spine. It's everywhere. Kinetic, negative and positive, charged and burning, radiating off of people and their weapons. Her fingertips tingle with it, so palpable she can almost grab it.

Inhaling through her nose, she gathers the energy around her, until she can feel it burning in her hands. The agents found their hiding spot, ten of them quickly advancing. Ana smirks, then channels the kinetic energy into the metal creates. Three of them go flying ahead, taking out all ten guards.

"I did not know you could do that." Clint sounds impressed, shooting another arrow without looking. It lands in a guards shoulder, taking him down.

Bucky looks curious, yet proud of her. Ana shrugs, it's a new discovery herself. Something heavy lands onto of the top remaining creates. When Ana looks up she waves at Steve, dressed in his Captain's uniform, his shield hooked on his arm. He gives her an exasperated look, before he waves back, his gaze shifting over to Bucky.

"Causing trouble, pal?" He teases.

"Was starting to get bored, I guess." Bucky quips back, shrugging.

Steve chuckles, then jumps down, landing light on his feet. He places his free hand on Ana's shoulder, blue eyes filled with worry. He quickly does a scan of her body. From her busted lip, to her cheek where a bruise is probably beginning to form, as well as her neck, to her knee, and frowns. There's the same fire of anger sparking in his eyes, though no where near as murderous as Bucky's.

“Okay?” Steve checks quietly.

The sincerity in his voice, the angry set of his jaw, the comforting hand squeezing her shoulder, nearly overwhelms Ana. Her bottom lips trembles for a moment, before she regains her emotions. She nods shakily. Steve sees right through her but returns her nod after a short pause. He lifts his eyes to meet with Bucky, who responds with a slight tilt of his head forward; their own silent communication.

"Vision and Wanda are clearing path right now." Steve informs them. "Just fifty yards ahead and up the stairs. There's a ladder leading to the roof access where the jet is. Sharon and Agent Hill are there. But you need to go now."

Bucky doesn't hesitate as he tugs Ana along. She tries to run at full sped, but she hisses when something in her knee snaps. She grips Bucky's shirt as he shoots a stray guard down. He turns to help her, when something flies past them.

"Sam!" He shouts, wrapping his metal arm around her waist. He hoists her up a bit, so all her weight is off her right leg. Sam circles back around, landing next to them. He quickly goes to her other side grabbing her arm to place around his neck.

"Take her to the second level close to the roof." Bucky instructs. To Ana he says, "I'll meet you up there."

"Be careful." Ana tells him. Sam carefully picks her up as Bucky did earlier.

Bucky smiles and nods, then takes off. He turns for a moment. "Wilson!"

"I've got her!" Sam yells back. "Hold on tight, honey."

Ana tightens her arm around his neck, gripping his shirt. The wings of his pack shoot open then Sam is taking off into the air. The sensation of flying Ana will never get used to. She yelps when Sam has to twirl and maneuver out of the way of gunfire. It only takes thirty seconds before he lands again, gently setting her down.

"Take this." He instructs, pulling a small gun from his holster and shoving it in her hands. "He's right behind you. I'll see you later."

"Thanks Sam." Ana sighs out, readying the gun.

He points a finger at her. "Don't you scare me like that again, Ana. I mean it." Then he takes off.

Ana spots Bucky running up the stairs, a Hydra guard following after him. She aims the gun and shoots, hitting the guard in the leg twice. He goes down hard, as Bucky takes the rest of the stairs two at a time. He reaches her, quickly wrapping his arm around her lower back and helping her along. The majority of the fighting is now several yards behind them. She tucks the gun away.

When they reach the ladder, Bucky carefully shift his hold to her hips as Ana wraps her hands around the thin bars. He gently pushes her up as far as he can. She painfully makes it up seven steps, before gunfire rings out. Ana yelps, slipping down the steps. 

She falls backwards but Bucky catches her, cursing loudly. A new pain blooms in her left shoulder, and when she looks, a bleeding bullet hole is the cause. Bucky blocks her from of the line of fire with his left arm, when abruptly the firing ceases.

When they look below, Erik Woods is there, gun in hand. Unfortunately, it's not the only weapon he has. His right arm is shoved into a device that looks like a blaster of some kind. A malicious grin spreads across his mouth as the weapon makes a winding noise, the end of it glowing yellow. Ana realizes with horror it's an energy laser gun, aimed directly at them both.

"I don't need you alive, Rios!" Erik yells, a manic look on his face.

Ana yanks Bucky aside, the blast missing him by a foot. He grabs the gun from his belt, shooting at Erik, but he dodges the bullets. Ignoring her throbbing, bleeding shoulder, Ana takes out Sam's gun and fires, blood swirling down her arm. 

She's able to nick Erik's leg, the size of the blaster blocking his chest. Bucky aims for his hand, hitting dead on, the hand gun falls to the ground. Bucky shoots again, hitting his shoulder, leg, and stomach before Erik dives behind a create. Briefly, Ana wonders how Erik hasn’t died yet, if there's a possibly he has his own form of knock off serum.

Ana drops the gun once it's out of bullets. Instead, she quickly pulls the kinetic energy from the air. As she does so, Erik pops out from the other side of the crate. He aims the blaster, shooting it directly at Ana. Bucky lunges to protect her.

There's a flash of light, a crunching sound and they're both sent flying to the floor from the force of the attack. Shaking her head to clear her vision, Ana sits up the as Bucky pushes himself up. She gasps in horror, a shaky hand flies over her mouth, the sight of in font of her nearly makes her vomit.

Bucky's metal arm has been completely shot off. Nothing left but a stump of broken, glowing red scorched wires, chords and scrapped metal. He is slow to get to his knees, wobbles dangerously. He glances to his side, just to see nothing there. His expression is one of absolute anguish. He looks like he's going into shock, like his body is shutting down from the trauma. Then he passes out, falling heavily to the ground.

"Bucky!" Ana screams. 

All her senses come back to her, but the only thing she feels is the utter terror in her heart. She crawls over to him, bleeding and dizzy and panicked, just as another blast is sent her way.

Ana spins, catching the energy beam in her hands. The force shoves her back, slams her against a metal pillar. Slowly she stands, but doesn't feel any pain, just a white hot sensation in her hands. It surges throughout her body, ignites very vein, every fiber of her being down to her core. She concentrates on the glowing light, keeps it contained between her palms as the beam comes to an end. She vaguely hears another gunshot as something pierces her stomach. All she focuses on is the blazing energy in her hands, conforming it to her will.

She inhales slowly, shuts her eyes, inches her hands closer and closer until the light begins to fade. She clenches her fist, lowering her arms. Ana adsorbs the energy, containing it in her body, her arms trembling. When her eyes snap open, she feels them burning. Her skin on fire, her blood boiling, her fingertips sizzling. Through the searing white light of her eyes, stands a dark silhouette.

Raising her hands, Ana thrusts them forward. The watts of energy leaves her body, rushes out like water breaking open a dam, sent directly towards the silhouette. She wraps it around the figure, clenching her hands and tugs. A new sensation crashes over her body, tugging and pulling until the other source of energy starts to fade away. She continues to pull and pull, until she begins to feel every drop drain from her body, a slow weakness left behind. She refuses to stop, yearns to drain the figures force of energy to nothing.

There's a soft graze to her calf, the gentlest of touches. Abruptly, the energy halts. All bright lights dissipates. Ana can hardly see through distorted vision, smoke and electrical currents racing along the ceiling. Her heart pumps weakly in her chest before she crumples to the ground. Something touches her lips, tender and trembling, but when she cracks her eyes open, she can't see anything other than blurred shapes.

"Stay with me..."

The words are a whispered panic; a begging request. She can't place the voice, barely registers the words. Her heart flutters once more then stops. The world goes black.

***

**

*

*******************************************************************

Previous   Next

[loremonster]

Slush Pile : Nightmares

While not plot-important, this little scene is something I feel like would go between the current story and the next as Kenny and Dee start breaking more rules to spend time together. I’m still considering it for inclusion in the story, but I don’t know if it fits in just yet or would play any important role to the plot... more likely than not, it won’t make it over to fanfiction, so enjoy this bonus content! Feels, somewhat unsettling descriptions, and cursing ahead! Enjoy!

It’s the right thing. 

She’d told herself the moment she began to feel her insides squirming, the way they churned, as if some living creature within her guts were eager to burst forth. It was not unlike the feeling of being entirely too full, the contents of the stomach threatening to burst up through the mouth when the midsection was so much as bent... but it wasn’t an excess of food she was gritting her teeth against, trying desperately to ignore as more and more coppery-tasting black bile was swallowed back, welling up from places unknown. No, no, there was something unthinking and vicious, gluttonous and oh so hungry. 

It was going to escape if this didn’t happen. She knew it would. It would emerge from the chrysalis of her flesh, and wreak the very havoc she’d come to avoid. 

It’s the right thing. 

She looked up, up to the good doctor Kartwright and her silenced pistol where it hovered a mere inch from her brow. This had been the plan since she began throwing up at home, since she arrived in this un-disastered timeline and became aware that she was the disaster, walking about with both the key to salvation and the disease that would consume everything in its wake if not stopped. 

She’d expected to cry, or be afraid.

Get it over with. 

Gunshots in movies were bullshit-- there was no flash. All of that was edited in post-- and they rarely reflected just how loud a gun was. How the shot could be felt in the flesh and rang in unprotected ears. Even with a silencer, there was a punctuation to a gunshot that was immistakable, a reverberation in the ribs as shocked air rushed away from a point of ignition. 

Somehow, she found herself aware of it. Aware of this moment, and perchance that was fitting, as it would be her very last; her last breath, gasped in at the exact second of the shot. Her last impulse, to twitch upwards into a tense posture.

Her last thought, wondering if she really would continue on as the self that was still alive, or if that girl was an entirely separate existence that she’d never get to know. 

At least she’ll get to live.

-PAGEBREAK-

She awoke in the dark of her room, not in her bed but on the floor. It wasn’t like she’d fallen out of bed-- no, she was upright, sitting upon her knees. Kneeling. 

Her hand flew to her forehead, where she could almost still feel where the bullet had ripped through her. Feel the sensation of skin and skull giving way before her brain had been sundered and her awareness ended in a terrible lack of all. No dark, no light, no sound, nothing.

Terrible, terrible nothing. 

But that wasn’t what was here. No, she inhaled deeply and could smell the familiar scent of home. Her room, her blankets, the wood of the house-- even faint traces of the casserole her father had baked that night, probably not more than three or four hours ago. 

She was the girl. The girl that other version of her had been so worried about-- the one who didn’t get shot in the head, but had instead safely slept through the whole ordeal, believed sick by her parents and left alone. 

Her posture bent, her other hand feeding up into tangled curls of red hair, nails digging into her skull. 

She could still feel the track of the bullet, burning, searing, torn through-- the shock-wave that had gone through her brain and turned her gray matter into jelly.

She could still feel herself dying.

She wanted to claw it out. Rip her own head open just to make it stop, as if she could dig in and scratch away the offending sensation like one did an itch. Great balls of hair were gathered into fists, and she pulled, pulled until it hurt, pulled until she doubled over and cried into her knees. 

Somewhere behind her, she heard her phone buzz. The sound was distinct; vibration against a hard surface-- her end table? That was where she usually left it, but incidents of sleepwalking had left her phone in odd places before. 

Who cares? It’s crazy late. No one is gonna give a fuck whether I respond now or later. 

An excuse, an excuse to remain down with her eyes pressed into the tops of her knees, nose fitted into the crease between her legs and her merciless knuckles refusing to loosen their grip.

It buzzed again. And again. And again. And again. 

Serial murders snorting jizz, who the fuck needs me this badly at-- at-- at whatever fucking time this is?? 

Damnit, she had to let go of herself just to check the clock-- 1:00 AM. Oh. That time. 

Even as she confirmed it, the sudden barrage of what sounded like texts made even less sense. Who the fuck was blowing up her phone past midnight? Sniveling, wiping her eyes with the back of one hand, she toddled back to her bed and flopped over onto the soft surface of her mattress, reaching across for her phone to unlock it and see which name was taking over her notifications box.

Kenny. 

Suddenly, her little episode was near forgotten. She opened her messenger quickly, scared that something had happened, that Kenny needed her and she was just sitting in a heap in the middle of the floor, freaking out about a phantom bullet in her skull. 

[Received, 1:00] Hey [Received, 1:00] i no its rlly late but... [Received, 1:00] idk i just had this fucked up dream and it made me worry about u [Received, 1:00] just making sure ur ok [Received, 1:01] srry if i woke u

She blinked at the small wall of texts, having to scroll a little to see all of it. What was he talking about? What kind of dream? 

Was he suffering from a memory echo as well? Something from that aborted timeline, or one of the dozens of others she’d undone in the past in which he’d taken mortal damage? 

[Sent, 1:01] I’m awake... I actually just had a bad dream, too [Sent, 1:01] Well, not a dream. Memories. Y’know. I’ve told you about it before. [Sent, 1:01] You?

There was a pause, and she worried he may have fallen back asleep, having only been awake enough to send a bunch of texts before passing the fuck out again... but that theory was proved wrong a moment later. 

[Received, 1:03] same [Received , 1:03] its weird, i dont remember anything from it when im awake, but the dreams happen and its like remembering, like its real [Received, 1:04] then it fades away again. its almost gone right now [Received, 1:04] cartman was a zombie? he bit me, u pulled him off me, i ran away [Received, 1:04] i was scared for karen

That was something she hadn’t heard before-- then again, she could barely remember what happened half of the time. Certain things stuck in her mind, came and went, but it was so hard to hold two separate realities in the mind at the same time... and other timelines intruded upon her at seemingly random intervals as well. Things got intermixed all the time-- the only one that made the zombie time-line special was the fact that she died at the end of it, and that she’d been speaking to Kenny for a great deal of it... a first, in all of her mishaps through time. 

She read over his description, over and over, trying to make herself recall. She thought she did-- mostly she remembered Cartman’s bloated body falling down a set of stairs before she went after him to stomp on his fucking skull. The rest refused to remain solvent.

[Sent, 1:06] i remember him falling down the elementary school stairs.

[Received, 1:06] me too. u jumped on him. i watched long enough to make sure you were okay, but something was wrong with me. i had to run. [Received, 1:07] ... i think i went up to the roof? [Received, 1:07] ... i think i jumped. 

That’s one way to make sure you don’t hurt your sister. She couldn’t speak to any of that. She couldn’t remember leaving the elementary school, but she knew some short time after dealing with Cartman, she’d run into Dr. Kartwright, who had given her a cellphone with a message to convince her past self to take action. 

She didn’t know what to say to him, what might help. Did she tell him about her own nightmare? How the sensation of being shot haunted her? It felt like she didn’t have room to talk; he’d been through thousands of deaths, spoken about how each and every one of them was still vivid in his memory. That he knew what it was like to be impaled, burned, electrocuted, shot, stabbed, and many others... what was her single moment of suffering in the face of his much more tortuous state? 

Her screen blurred. She was tearing up again, swallowing over a lump in her throat while her cheeks burned in a mixture of shame and... and... she didn’t know what-- terror? The danger was past, she was alive, and still the horror of it robbed her of her sleep and left her in this empty and broken state, traumatized by an event that no longer existed. 

Sniffing, she typed.

[Sent, 1:09] Are you alright?  [Sent, 1:10] I think I’m going to be awake for a while if you need someone to talk to.

She rolled her head into her pillow, stifling a sob. 

[Received, 1:10] im good [Received, 1:11] i texted to see if u were ok [Received, 1:11] u said you had a dream too, what happened?

It took her several minutes of shoving her head into her pillow before she even lifted her head and peered at the new set of messages upon her softly glowing screen. She rolled onto her belly, sniffing hard and crumpling her pillow beneath her chest and staring down at her messenger, trying to figure out what to say while the tears once again came to a stop, although breathing was still harder than it should have been. 

He asked. She told herself. That makes it worth telling, right? 

She typed for longer than she meant to, going into details she’d half-forgotten by this point, but apparently her thumbs were able to uncover those little things-- the sound of the birds out in the woods, the way the leaf litter had felt under her knees, the smell of the oil Dr. Kartwright used to keep her gun clean.

She painted a terribly vivid picture, even to herself. She wrote of the moment, so much so that her phone had to pause a second and convert into a multimedia message because she’d typed too much for SMS. She’d gotten to waking up, the sensation that still itched inside her brain case.

She stared at it. Paragraphs of description, of the horror that had been replaying the most often for her these days. Why? Why this? Did her subconscious choose which moments to fixate upon? Why did this one have to keep coming back to her? 

She frowned faintly. Was she being over-dramatic? Maybe this was too much... 

[Received, 1:19] pls dont delete anything [Received, 1:19] i want to hear it

HOW THE FUCK DOES HE DO THAT??? Glaring at her phone-- no, no, she was pouting, pouting at her phone, she pressed and held on her great big text-block and hit the ‘select all’ button to copy it, delete it, and type a shorter message in its place.

[Sent, 1:20] WOULD YOU KINDLY EXPLAIN HOW YOU READ MY GODDAMN MIND?!

[Received, 1:20] i know u. u dont think your shit is worth talking about, worth listening to [Received, 1:21] it is. pls tell me?

Knows me too damn fucking well. If this were a spy movie, I’d have to kill him.

With a sigh, the text block was pasted back into the messenger, and she sent it-- her whole episode in grueling detail. 

Reading over it, seeing it confirmed as sent made her bury damp eyes into the fabric of her pillow once more. Something in her was so goddamn afraid, but she didn’t understand why. 

She remained there until her phone buzzed in her hands. Eyes were bleary and wet when she rose up, blinking a few times. 

Then she blinked a few more. 

[Received, 1:24] do u want me to come over? [Received, 1:24] i noticed ur basement has one of those little storm windows, i could slip in thru there and we could hang out

[Sent, 1:25] It’s past midnight on a school night, and you wanna hold my punching bag for me? 

[Received, 1:25] if itll make u feel better, yeah

... well, if he’s offering... 

[Sent, 1:26] I think it would. [Sent, 1:26] Thanks. 

[stromuprisahat]

... As the maps they make in Transylvania cannot be compared to those created for the War Office* back home in England, I could not locate Castle Dracula on any of them. ... * ... In Dracula this sentence reads: “I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordnance Survey maps.” In fact, the military maps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including Transylvania, were highly detailed, but not available to the public.

Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula (Bram Stoker, Valdimar Ásmundsson, Hans Corneel De Roos)

Let that sink in.

Military maps at the end of 19th century were highly detailed- therefore it took a lot of time for them to be made-, and they were "not available to the public". If an army won't let even their own unauthorised citizens view them, how likely is it that their loss would be simply handwaved, especially in middle of a conflict?!

There should've been an inquiry. None of the cartographers present should've left the camp, hell, why weren't they immediately taken into custody?!

I've written it before, and I'll keep asking- if Alina has such awful issues being discriminated to the point, when she wasn't even fed, how the hell is she allowed anywhere near the skiff after this? Her unit should be no. 1 suspect in sabotage of war effort, she herself volunteered to "help" right after the deed was discovered... how does suddenly nobody suspect her of being a Shu spy?!

[xiexiecaptain]

Shadow and Bone Episodes Commentary Posts Masterlist!

Basically I started a S&B rewatch live-tweet forever ago on twitter and then moved/continued it over here! 

This is the post for links to each of the episode posts for easier navigation than having to scroll through/update all the individual posts.

I’ll be updating this post with links when I have new posts/episodes done!

Disclaimer: There ARE spoilers mentioned for the books in the Grishaverse including the Crows duology & King of Scars duology!

SEASON 1:

[EP 01: A Searing Burst of Light]

[EP 02: We Are All Someone’s Monster]

[EP 03: The Making At the Heart of the World]

[EP 04: Otkazats’ya]

[EP 05: Show Me Who You Are]

[EP 06: The Heart is an Arrow]

[EP 07: The Unsea]

[EP 08: No Mourners]

SEASON 2:

[S2 EP 01: No Shelter But Me]

[S2 EP 02: Rusalye]

[S2 EP 03: Like Calls to Like]

[S2 EP 04: Every Monstrous Thing]

[S2 EP 05: Yuyeh Sesh (Despise Your Heart)]

[S2 EP 06: Ni Weh Sesh (I Have No Heart)]

[S2 EP 07: Meet You in the Meadow]

[S2 EP 08: No Funerals]

[ghafahey]

SHADOW & BONE, SEASON 01 EPISODE 01 — A Searing Burst of Light

every ghafahey scene ever: 2/??

bonus:

[of-storms-and-saints-blog]

No Time for Regrets

Shielded in Flame Part 01: Tainted Hero Chapter 3: No Time for Regrets

The wind shifted, rustling the trees and disturbing nearby leaves. One leaf landed on Brina's face. She blew it off and attempted to sit up. Pain shot through her side, and she cried out in surprise. Memories of the battle flooded her mind. Brina lay back down, pushing her sorrow deep into the pit of her stomach. She covered her face, not daring to look at the beauty of the day.

Some time passed before she could get up. The sunlight was breaking over the treeline. She brushed off the dried paste, taking care around her fresh burns, and shook it from her hair. Some of the green paste remained in its bowl. Brina gently brushed it onto the wounds, breathing relief at the refreshing touch. There were just enough bandages in her pack to cover the worst of the injuries.

Brina dressed and braided her hair back before turning her attention to her pack. She stopped in front of the altar. All that remained were a few charred logs and bones. They looked so alike it was challenging to figure out which was which. A small amount of heat still radiated from the remnants, slightly smoking.

She wrapped the massive horns in a cloth before tucking them deep into the pack with the bowls. Brina tossed the bag over her shoulder and took one final look around the clearing. Some of the grass was blackened and smoked like the altar did. Rocks covered the entire clearing. A pile of ice remained. The demon had disappeared, back to the Fade. A light caught her eye, blue light in the grass near one of the sear marks. Brina knelt. The lyrium? I- I did it without the lyrium! Realization of her accomplishment struck her in awe. Has that ever happened before? “I need to show Augur!” The vial still had the cord attached, so she slipped it over her head and tucked it into her tunic.

Brina ran as fast as she could down the rocky mountainside. The wind shifted again, bringing a foul smell in its wake that took Brina aback. She stopped and gagged before covering her nose and mouth with her arm.

As she drew closer to the hold, thick black smoke filled the air. What's going on? Her heart pounded, bursting from her chest. Brina tore a shred of cloth from her tunic and tied it around her face over her mouth and nose. She secured the bag on her back and readied her bow with several more arrows in her hand.

At the head of the trail, Hulda's hut blazed furiously. A body was sitting upright on her knees with her arms covering her head. It was utterly charred and barely recognizable. Brina's breath caught in her throat once she realized it was Hulda. In horror, she looked in the other nearby huts, also in flames. A few more charred bodies lay around in various positions of fear or attempts at fleeing.

A screech in the distance startled Brina. Fear ran its icy fingers down her back. She hid just in time. A beast rushed past with great speed only to stop nearby where she hid. It appeared somewhat canine with a short muzzle, pointed ears, and long forearms. Its skin was mottled grey and black. The armor it wore was pieced together from several different sets and covered in what looked like black pitch. The gauntlets on its forearms had long sharp blades that pointed upward, and it held two daggers in each hand. It smelled of death and rotting earth.

Nightganger . . . The creature looked around, sniffing the air. It can smell me. Horror gripped at Brina. She covered her mouth and held her breath, hoping it couldn't hear her. The creature cocked its head toward the burning village, then dashed toward a group of figures far to the other side of the hold.

Brina stayed frozen for several hours, afraid to even cry. The fires were dying by the time she dared peak out of hiding. She trod carefully, afraid the creatures were still around. Every hut had burned, leaving empty black husks. All the plants had withered in death or thoroughly incinerated. Elderly, children, some of the women were charcoal around in their homes. All around her was the acrid smell of burning flesh coupled with the coppery scent of burnt blood. The unmistakable smell of sulfur clung to her nostrils. She found the warriors and hunters gathered near the center of the village, weapons in hand.

Brina found a trail of black blood and followed it. The path led to her hut, which had also burned. Leaning against the rock wall at the side of the shelter was her father. His veins were black, and his eyes and skin had gone white. A massive cut across his torso oozed black blood.

“Da!” She ran toward him, thinking he was dead.

He blinked, struggling to breathe. “C-Cub? Is that you?”

“It's me, Da.” She cupped her hands around his face. His skin was icy to the touch.

“I- I don't . . . have much longer . . . There's . . . a sickness . . . in me.”

“Shh. Don't speak.”

With great effort, he raised his hand to touch her cheek. “I'll . . . I'll give . . . Aela . . . your love.”

His hand began to drop, and she held it tight to her face. Her eyes filled with tears and she couldn't keep them back. Grief immobilized her.

By the time she could compose herself, it was nearing nightfall. Brina shut her father's eyes and tore herself away. She made her way back to the center of the village, attempting to contain fresh waves of grief and trying to figure out what to do.

Where do I go? I could go to another hold. Would they take me in? I'm not sure where the nearest one is. They could be deep in the mountains.

Brina walked toward the Augur's hut, knowing it was futile. She was surprised to find his home untouched by flames. Several dozen of the creatures lay dead along the path, making it nearly impossible to pick her way through. At the top, the door stood wide open, and it was dark inside.

She took the torch from the door frame and lit it. “Augur?”

A voice rasped from the darkness. “Br- Brina? Is that . . . is that you?”

Brina found him on the other side of the dead hearth in a pool of his blood. A black dagger stuck out of his chest, and one of the creatures lay dead nearby. “No . . . no, not you too.”

“You . . . you succeeded . . . You are . . . separated . . . from your . . . spirit guide.”

Fresh tears welled in Brina's eyes. “Aye. It is done.”

“Good . . . Good. I knew . . . you could.”

“I- I want to help. How can I help you? Please, Augur. You're all I have left.”

“It is . . . Too late . . . for me. But . . . Not. . . Too late . . . for you. The . . . Grey Warden . . . He went to . . . The tunnel. Go . . . Go to him . . . Help him . . . and his Wardens.” The Augur gasped for breath and coughed up blood. “Take . . . this.” He pointed to the staff just beyond his reach.

Brina picked up the staff, staring in the glowing wolf eyes. “I . . . I can't leave you.”

Augur took her hand in his. “There . . . is nothing . . . for . . . you here. But . . . There is . . . One thing you . . . can do . . . for me.” He put her hand on his forehead.

She nodded. A tear dropped from her chin. Brina closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. A soft light glowed in her palm on his forehead. Her breath shook when she exhaled. When she opened her eyes, Augur had passed on. Brina clutched the front of his tunic to her face, sobbing.

She sensed a presence in the doorway. She turned quickly, lightning bolts circled her hands and forearms, ready to strike. Brina couldn't see who it was. “Gr- Grey Warden?” She turned her back to him. “I'm sorry. I had heard you were going to the tunnel.”

“Don't apologize, Brina. I am sorry for what happened here. What was it he asked for?”

“The Augur and his mate were apprentices together. She was supposed to become the Augur, but when the time came, Stone Bear Hold attacked. A hunting party had crossed onto Stone Bear's Territory. They had mistaken our hunters as a raiding party. The Thane at the time was known for being impulsive. Instead of finding out more, peacefully, he launched an attack. Augur's mate was killed.” Brina looked back at the Augur's frail body. “He always said her favorite place was near the lake. Back then, our hold was located near a huge one. There was a family of ptarmigans that lived in the brush near the shore. He said she always imaged the Lady was watching over them from the eyes of the ptarmigan.” Brina knelt by the Augur and picked up the feather that hung around his neck. “I gave him a memory. After my Ma died, he took me to the base of the mountain near an open field where the rams like to frequent. There was a family of ptarmigans he visited. He told me his story. The ptarmigan allowed him to come close and even let him hold the babies. It's how he remained close to her all those years.”

“I know you've lost much today. Your Augur and Thane observed your trial. As did I. Brina, will you join the Grey Wardens? We need you. We can't replace what you've lost, but we can help you start a new life with the possibility of a future beyond the darkspawn.”

“Those creatures . . .” She couldn't bring herself to use the word.

“Yes. Darkspawn.”

“They are responsible for this. Aye, I'll join you and your order. There's nothing left for me here.”

“Help me close the tunnel before we go.”

***

They picked their way through the dark at the base of the mountain. The dense forest around them pressed close, suffocating Brina. How the Grey Warden stood it, she couldn’t fathom. Brina could barely see the stars through the thick foliage. The forest belonged to Black-Wolf Hold and butted up to a valley to the east; the valley that would take them to the Korcari Wilds.

A fire raged in front of the tunnel where a single darkspawn sentry stood watch. It was quite tall, about as tall as Brina, with thick armor covered in pitch just like the darkspawn she had seen before. This one had a helmet on. There was a black shield nearby leaning against a tree and a black twisted sword tied to the darkspawn's hip.

“That is a Hurlock vanguard. It appears to be non-ranking, which is good for us. It'll be easy to take out.”

Brina couldn't see his face in the dark. “What are you not saying?”

“There's a small retinue not far from here. Closing the tunnel will likely gain their attention. Most of them are just like this vanguard, but I think they may have an emissary among them. They are heading this way. We won't be able to escape before they arrive. We'll have to fight our way through. This Hurlock can't detect us; we're not close enough. But it won't be long before the emissary is aware of our presence.”

“How can you know all that?”

“It's part of being a Grey Warden. I will explain later. Now, I'll distract the sentry. I need you to collapse the tunnel.”

Brina nodded. She and Duncan ran out. Duncan kicked the Hurlock square in the gut before it could draw its sword. Brina stood before the tunnel and braced herself. She held the staff parallel to the ground, both hands on the grip. She raised the staff over her head and arched her upper body around in a full circle before stamping the butt of the staff onto the ground. A large crack formed and traveled into the tunnel and spiraled around losing rocks and debris. The ground shook. Roars and screeches escaped the shaft as it collapsed.

Once the ground settled, Duncan came up next to her. He crossed his arms, but there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face, “I think you'll do just fine. The emissary is here. Get ready.”

Several Hurlocks, like the one Duncan killed, emerged from the trees. An even more massive creature followed behind. It was tall and floated above the ground. Its head was bald. The skin on the nightganger sagged and was pale grey with black mottled spots. Its ears reminded Brina of an elf, a detail that distracted Brina a moment too long.

“Brina, watch out!” Duncan shoved her to the side. A fireball larger than her head burned past her so close she felt the intense heat.

“The emissary?”

Duncan nodded.

The emissary opened its mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth, and let out a gravelly screech. It brought its hand up and connected its long fingers as if holding a ball. Lightning and energy formed inside and built up larger and larger.

“Brina, attack now!” Duncan rushed forward with his swords, spinning and lunging as hurlocks attacked.

Brina lifted her staff with both hands parallel to the ground and was about to conjure a protective barrier when a low growl to her left startled her. To her horror, another creature emerged. Is that a wolf? No, it can't be. . . “Duncan?”

Before she knew it, a blade stuck from the middle of its head. She spun back to face Duncan who was fighting the emissary with a single sword. Brina ran to the wolf creature and grabbed the sword. She had to place her foot on its head and pull hard. After a moment, the sword slid out.

Brina ran behind the emissary and breathed deep. She laid the staff down and with her newly freed hand she gathered up the energy in the clearing. Electricity tingled in her fingers, down her arm, and into her other arm, directly into the sword. Electrical currents pulsed through the sword and the blade became sheathed in lightning.

“Hey! Ass Face! Aye, you! Eat this!” Brina brought the sword up over her head and brought it downward. A long blade of light and lightning came out of the sword slicing and electrocuting the emissary. Duncan jumped back just in time to avoid the slash of the sword.

The emissary stood, staring at her before falling apart into two pieces. Black blood formed a large pool in the dirt and grass. Brina picked up her staff turned her attention back to the bear creature. “Duncan, what is this? It looks like a wolf, but something is . . . horribly wrong.” She handed Duncan his sword.

“A blight wolf.”

Brina couldn't help making a face. “That- That's perverse!” Now that they had a moment she was able to look at it really and could see it was, in fact, a wolf, but it was twisted almost beyond recognition. The fur was matted and patchy, covered in the same pitch-like substance that was on the darkspawns' armor.

“I'm sorry, Brina. I had forgotten your clan holds them sacred. I can't imagine what you must feel about these blight wolves. Unfortunately, there is no way to cleanse them.”

“I . . . I understand. The hunters, they said the bears were gone . . . and all the other animals.”

“Yes. Either tainted or fled.” Duncan sighed heavily. “Stay alive. Another small group approaches.”

Several more darkspawn emerged from around the clearing led by an Alpha Hurlock. Brina took a deep breath and pulled her arms tight into her body. She threw both arms out, casting balls of fire. Each ball of flames sought one of the darkspawn enemies, catching them on fire. Some went into a panic, running into trees and each other before falling onto the ground screaming.

The Alpha regained his composure and launched himself at her. She swung the staff around, using it as a control for various blasts before sending another barrage of fireballs. The Alpha managed to block several of the bursts but was unable to advance closer. She dropped the staff, exhausted. The Alpha drew his sword.

A crash through the trees gave her, Duncan, and the Alpha pause. Oh, Lady's Blessed Tits, I hope there aren't more.

Grønvik broke through the trees and tore into the Alpha. Duncan and Brina could only watch in helpless wonder. Grønvik crunched through the armor as the Alpha struggled. The Alpha finally stopped moving, and the wolf dropped it.

As Grønvik stepped away, he shook his head, growling.

“Grønvik? Are you all right?”

Grønvik howled and dropped to the ground. He tried to get up only to fall onto his side. Black blood dripped from his jaw.

“Grønvik? Grønvik? No! No, not Grønvik, too!”

“Brina . . .”

Brina ran to his side. “. . . Grønvik . . .”

“The Alpha's blood killed him . . . I'm sorry.”

“He- He saved me . . .”

“He was a magnificent beast.”

“He would have turned into a blight wolf. . . wouldn't he?”

“Yes . . . I know you are hurting, but it is better this way.”

She put her hand on Grønvik's head. “May you walk in the light and be unafraid of the darkness.” Brina stood and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “We shouldn't linger here.”

[stromuprisahat]

What do you think about darkling and zoya having sexual relationship in the show? I saw an anti saying how darkling had a relationship with someone he knew since childhood and talked about the 400+ age gap.

I'll never understand people who make a 100+ age gap in fantasy a problem

I'll start with my favourite anecdote. There are people, who claim Hannigram is problematic ship, due to ten year age gap. In the show about cannibalistic serial killer, the greatest issue seems to be age difference between 40 and 50 y/o man. Not the manipulation, gaslighting, murder, drugging, intentional isolation, literal gutting etc. ...

Zoya and Kirigan are consenting adults. We don't know when their relationship started, but we've never been given a single reason to assume otherwise. The only objective issues are their professional relationship and expectations regarding their affair.

I wouldn't worry about Aleksander, it's all clearly sexual for him. He respects Zoya's power and other qualities, I'd assume he appreciates her physical attractiveness, but that's where it ends for him. As General of Second Army and seemingly influential member of opressed minority, he cannot afford to sleep with just anyone and one of his officers seems like a safe choice.

As for Zoya, the girl's a mess. She doesn't seem to see it the same way as her lover. She's visibly upset, when the Darkling refuses her advances, but doesn't mind when Malyen does the same few episodes earlier. They're obviously not exclusive, but Zoya gets jealous of Alina, she's upset by Aleksander's rejection, even though he's obviously distressed at the time. Random fuck to blow off some steam's alright, but emotional involvement not? Perhaps someone saw herself as future Mrs. Kirigan...

Which rises the question how did the rift between them affect her decision to betray her General? Girl so short tempered she's throwing tantrum, using her powers, when she's not the centre of guy's attention? Yes, we know, there's THE AUNT in danger, but Zoya changed sides preeetty quickly. Trying to kill a guy, who dumped you doesn't hurt, does it?

I'm adding link to a thread about how this storyline changed Zoya as a character. Did she fuck her way up? The viewer doesn't know about her tragic past or diligence, but they saw her in leading position and General's bedroom. Is a possible threat to her relative good enough reason to try killing the man, who just anounced the war's won? She's a soldier! Or does she want him dead, because he's no longer useful to her? Or because he turned her down, and she's the one dumping people?

[stromuprisahat]

I was possessed to rewatch S&B today and I've said this before and I'll say it again that the line from Ana about Alina's parents "fold ate your (Alina's) parents" still strikes me as odd and I doubt its truthfulness like I can't pinpoint why it might be the wording or the delivery but something about it just feels me with so much doubt

I saw it as one of those scary stories used to warn children away from doing something. Like: My uncle used to tell us not to go out, when it’s dark, because there are bogeymen (bubáci :D) outside. Except what would be that something in Alina’s case?

We could say there are bogeymen in the Fold- volcra-, but what kind of idiot would go there with no good reason? Maybe Ana Kuya said it to prevent little Alina from trying to find her parents, who went there and didn’t come out. “The Fold ate your parents.” sounds scarier than “You would die.”.

If you doubt the truthfullness of her statement, well... We don’t see, what happened to them. If they tried to cross, why do it on their own? Why leave Alina behind? If she went with them, she would be discovered much sooner. I’ve read a fic, where they tried to smuggle her through the Fold, because they didn’t have enough money to pay for crossing for all of them. I doubt the writers hid her in wooden chest, it’s more likely they just didn’t think about it that much.

This version of story is flimsy at best, which is why I prefer that script, where Alina’s parents were murdered during a raid and she supressed her light due to trauma.

[stromuprisahat]

I liked the Inferni leader of the skiff. I'm a bit upset she got killed off. I'm very upset it was in such a stupid way. Trained soldier with a rank starts yelling "Come at me! Come at me, you coward!" and runs around like a headless chicken?! Please...

[stromuprisahat]

Just thinking what kind of horrible shock Alexei's death had to be for the poor heartrender. One moment you're basically hypnotizing someone, next- bang! The guy, whose body you were directing's gone! Nothing. Nada. No pulse. No breathing. No...?