#I will have you without your armor
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@nyaskitten tumblr ate your fucking ask uhh ignore how this is months later BUT i finally watched dr s2 AND
I GET IT NOW. I UNDERSTAND.
#i was asking for art recs and you said cinder back in like. december. if you dont remember#v messy please give me a clear ref without the fur thing and with the shoulder pads please please#google refs are 5 by 5 pixels and either youtube thumbnails or minifigs#what’s going on with his design by the way. why does he have blades strapped to him#pretend his hair is smokey okay idk how to draw smoke#when i saw his design before s2 came out i clocked him as a cold tundra ish terrain design cause of the fur and the wolves#so i gave him like winter gloves even tho that’s unpractical for him but whatever#something about his hair being smokey the way your breath fogs in the cold you understand#the crosses and lines on his armor idk i searched up samurai armor cause i have no idea what they’re supposed to be#he’s a middle aged man to me so it’s kinda funny he’s beefing with a teenager (jordana)#i wanted to see a grudging solidarity under the cat guys rule sort of relationship but no the girls are fighting i guess#what happened with the old guy by the way how does that timeline work#cinder would have to be born after s4 and there’s NO CHANCE this guy is younger than kai#did the pacing of this season feel weird to anyone else or have i just not watched ninjago for too long#anyways#ninjago#lego ninjago#dragons rising#ninjago dr s2#ninjago cinder#cinder ninjago#i hope thats his name i dont rember#ninjago dr spoilers#sort of#jellos scribbles
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Day off
#fire emblem#feh#sketch i was extremely tempted to ink and color but. bitch!!!! i am taking a break from all that.#alfonse is. probably wearing shorts under there. don't worry 👍#what do you think they're doing..? in my head i was imagining going to a fair#but also there are so many festivities all of the time in askr and a lot of it feels like part of the job i bet#what if it's more mundane than that. what if the excitement comes from the mundane. who knows...#would shopping feel too much like going on a supply run? would they even go into town dressed more casually?#status aside i was moreso thinking you probably have to be armed and ready at all times. if you live in askr.#it would be esp stupid to travel without your weapons and armor.#but what if.... i just wanna put them in flowy casual outfits..... and show them having fun together.... what then....#fe alfonse#sharena#my art
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waiting for mechposters to get into racing games: eleven months and counting
#look all im saying is all that stuff about Becoming One With The Machine and Pushing Your Limits applies as much towards like. wipeout#as whatever image of mecha you have#mecha#mechposting#video games#racing games#motorsports#hell get into rally games#id tell you this even without this context but especially now#armored core 6#armored core vi#armored core 6: fires of rubicon#armored core vi: fires of rubicon#because i know that's where you got this
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I didn't realize Alec Baldwin was on trial already but if he doesn't get found guilty .........
#im so sick of seeing all the excuses#'he was just the actor its not his responsibility' PLEASE.#number 1#he was NOT just the actor. he was the PRODUCER.#2. ok i can agree that the actor should not have to personally check if a gun is loaded#even tho that goes against all basic gun safety rules. actors are stupid.#but what SHOULD happen. is they SHOULD be at least SLIGHTLY educated on gun safety#and the armorer should show them. in front of their eyes. the parts of the gun. they should open it and show that it's not loaded.#if it is loaded with blanks or dummies or smth that should be clearly shown and explained.#and the armorer should say do you understand xyz about the responsibilities of holding any kind of gun in your hand#it shouldn't just be handed to them#but still!!! at the very least!!!! giving him the least responsibility possible and the most benefit of the doubt possible!!!!!#he was given a gun that he 100% trusted and believed to be loaded wirh BLANK ROUNDS.#and he pointed it in the direction of a human. without any safety barriers (????). and he pulled the trigger.#BLANKS ARE STILL VERY CAPABLE OF CAUSING FATAL INJURIES!!!!!!!!#argue with the WALL about whose responsibility and who messed up and who was in charge IT DOESNT MATTER#ALEC BALDWIN POINTED A REAL GUN THAT HE BELIEVED TO BE LOADED WITH BLANKS AT A HUMAN BEING WITH NO SAFETY BARRIERS AND PULLED THE TRIGGER#is that not the definition of involuntary manslaughter.#god. dont piss me off#tw gun mention
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thinking about kaz brekker having freddy carter’s camera and having it filled with photos of inej. inej laughing, inej looking at the sky, inej bathed in sunshine, inej sleeping, inej with her knives. just inej
#i’m having a kanej breakdown#i’ve been rewatching the ‘i will have you without your armor’ scene for five hours and i am a sobbing mess#and then i saw freddy’s ig posts and i just—#kanej#kaz brekker#inej ghafa#freddy carter#amita suman#shadow and bone#six of crows#grishaverse
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when people tell me to talk about something else besides how perfect the “how will you have me” kanej scene was
#I’m literally obsessed with how amita delivers the without armor line#like the pause after ‘I will have you’#and Kaz’s hopeful glance up at her#and then the continuation to ‘without your armor kaz Brekker’#it was beautiful it was devastating it changed lives#kanej#kaz brekker#inej ghafa#shadow and bone#six of crows#kaz x inej#shadow and bone spoilers#sab spoilers
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his ass is NOT mentally stable 🙅♂️‼️ (just legitimately teared up and felt awful about qsmp eggs)
#there’s just fucking something in the water with these guys#you love your daughter and you have never heard her speak. you wear your child’s ribbon in your hair.#you and one other person are the only ones with the codes to your son’s room. she could still be alive if only you had been there.#you give your son armor and you hope it is enough. you tell her her drawings are beautiful and you hope it is enough.#you bring a picture of them everywhere and you hope it is enough. you know it is not.#love pours out of every opening and it is not enough. you gamble riches and secrets and souls and it is not enough.#nothing you can do is enough to make them stay and it is not your fault. you didn’t ask for this. any of it. but you would do it all again.#you have never heard your child speak or seen their sunny smile or ruffled their hair or been able to save them. and there is so much love#in that;in not enough. in signs on every block. in tiny gardens. in books for every day of the week.in the stillness of a room without them#there is so so much love in a final sunny day. in i am here. i am with you.#you have never touched your child and you would rip a world apart for them. maybe that would be enough.#qsmp#my writing#<- i suppose
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As a person who has made many historical types of hosen and trousers and pants and braes...
The animation is great. They did great. But EVERYone needs more bulge.
#there are no stretch fabrics in this world make your pants looser.#every pants sculpt i have ever seen in this world looks awfully uncomfortablr#the drow armor with the upper arm laces is going in the right direction#the modern world has lost its way#check midcentury acrobat and dance costumes for an appropriate amount of bulge#check jeans and chaps bulge for bulge without stretch fabrics#check landsknechts for what I think is appropriate (thank you The Witcher for popularizing a later style of clothing in fantasy setting)#baldur's gate iii#baldur's gate 3#bg3
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i was on the final boss on the final stage on Eight's pallette and I DIED
WHY CAN'T YOU CONTINUE OR RETRY WITH THIS ONE DAMNED PALLETTE
#splatoon#side order#side order spoilers#I have to have extra lives I can't do this game without them#So I have less slots#I'll try again with just two#I had be getting through the other pallettes with like one death#But now that the armor jump is gone I can't do shit#Eight darling I love you but your pallette is an absolute bitch#Bout to start taking their name in vain
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cradling the face, looking into their eyes with Black again? O.O
You raced into the room, ignoring the people protesting behind you. Black was laying in the hospital bed, looking very small. You were at his side in seconds, cupping his cheekbones in your hands. "What happened?" you asked.
"It's nothing," Black said immediately. "They're making a fuss over nothing."
"That's not what I asked," you said sternly. "What happened?"
Black pouted. "I may have been in an altercation with a criminal," he said, "but again, it's nothing. You should see the other man."
You sighed and brushed a thumb over his cheekbone, pausing on the crack by one socket. "Black, honey," you said, "you know I love you more than anything."
"Yes."
"So you can understand how getting a call that you were in the hospital scared the crap out of me."
He had the decency to look a little bit ashamed. "Forgive me," he said. "If I had had the chance, I would have been the one to make the call. I was...indisposed."
"You were almost dead!" you shrieked. "They called me because you got SHOT, Sans! You almost died! You have one HP and you got shot! They don't know how you survived! And I come to see you IN THE HOSPITAL and you have the audacity to tell me that it's NOTHING and 'you should see the other guy'???" You pulled away from him to flail your arms, hoping that would get your point across. Then you grabbed his skull in both hands and stared directly into his eyes. "If you ever, EVER do something this stupid again, I will personally murder you! Do you understand?"
Black blinked. "Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you threaten someone?" he asked.
#sf sans#sf sans x reader#no I don't know how he survived#plot armor#that and he knew he'd have to answer to you if he died without your permission#drabble
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i always be pondering bg3 builds
#time to tag ramble#theres so many monk multiclass features that haima would benifit from but it would require them to wear clothes not light armor#unarmored defense + unarmored movement#which normally wouldnt be an issue for someone as obsessed with bg3 fashion as i am; just slap them in the moon devotion/infernal robes#which look baller#but im gonna get the bhaalist armor soon (VIA MODS MIND YOU. FOR FREEING VALERIA. we've had enough crimes in this run)#and the bonus that armor gives almost outweighs unarmored monk stuff#because a good chunk of their build is based around piercing damage (or will be anyway once i get crimson mischief and bloodthirst)#so the bhaalist armor DOUBLING PIERCING DAMAGE is INSANE#plus they have other means of being fast as fuck#and the best defense is “killing your enemies before they can hit you” which they have become VERY GOOD AT!#i still love the look of the infernal robes and i need to get the mod that gives them without karlach murder#i dont like using mods for gear EXCEPT if its for getting base game gear through alt methods#god im so excited to have their build all finalized because 🤓according to my calculashuns they're gonna be doing some crazy damage numbers#who needs power word kill when your sneak attack does the same thing RAAAAHHHH#simon says#bg3#ramblings
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Iron Man (1968) #104
#I love the rapid mood change here#from ‘You’re rich- You’ve got a woman who loves you- and you love her!’#‘Let Midas keep Stark International! You’re free- for the first time in your life!’#to ‘I can’t stop thinking about Midas taking away my factory! It… seems like my armor is… all I have left!’#it reminds me of some of the mood swings he’s had about his Iron Man and Tony Stark identities#also intrigued by that Tony refers to losing the company he inherited his father as him being free for the very first time#but he also says he hasn’t been back to Stark House since they died#and that the house is ‘Cold though- uncared for since my parents died! A bit like… me!’#in the one flashback we’ve seen of Howard Stark so far he sent his son to boarding school because he was dating the daughter of a competitor#so prioritizing reputation/the company- and he also insulted his son in the process#this is actually the first time that Maria Stark has been named#it’s very believable that Tony goes from believing that love is the most important thing to thinking that his armor is all he has#he’s so dedicated to running away from good things#the declaration ‘I can’t live only for love!’ is so funny#he’s literally still rich#but apparently he lacks proper purpose without Stark International#marvel#tony stark#whitney frost#my posts#comic panels
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okay but TOLYA AND TAMAR. THEY’RE SO FINE!!! THEIR ACTORS!!
i am in love with tamar!! she was so amazing in the show.
#tamar 💍💍#also nadia 💍💍#they rlly sped up the relationships#except kanej#it would take a miracle to get kanej to properly communicate#but we’re a step closer#with inejs iconic line#“i will have you without your armor kaz breaker or i will not have you at all#six of crows#shadow and bone#shadow and bone s2#tolya yul bataar#tamar yul bataar
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AND WHO SAYS GRAVE ROBBING DOESN'T PAY?? THIS BITCH IS SERVING CUNT AND SLAYING ABSOLUTE PENIS!!!!!
#these r the selûnite robes taken from a grave outside the thorn mausoleum and dyed with black and furnace red dye btw!!!!#& the cloak was bought from the trader at last light & dyed the same! i have to wear it bc the robes screw up my AC bc they're light armor#also the gloves r clipping thru the sleeves but i ALSO can't take em off if i want a high AC#so if you wanna steal isobel's look without literally killing her & stealing her clothes & can deal with sub par stats ABSOLUTELY do this!!!#none of your companions care if you steal from graves in my experience so dw abt that#god i'm SOOOOO obsessed with this look omg. i'm wearing it for the rest of the game 100% idc if it makes my life harder i'm not on tactician#so i can deal with it lol#len plays bg3#arzhur the sorcerer
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Inej's actress is so pretty that I get chills whenever she says Sankta Alina
#I will have you without your armor or I will not have you at all#oh my god#I'm literally watching right now#SHE'S GORGEOUS#shadow and bone#six of crows
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Kingdom of Ash Chapter 57
Chapter Highlights (most of the chapter is the highlight lol)
An hour before dawn, the keep and two armies beyond it were stirring.
Rowan had barely slept, and instead lain awake beside Aelin, listening to her breathing.
That the rest of them slumbered soundly was testament to their exhaustion, though Lorcan had not found them again. Rowan was willing to bet it was by choice.
It was not fear or anticipation of battle that had kept Rowan up—no, he'd slept well enough during other wars. But rather the fact that his mind would not stop looping him from thought to thought to thought.
He'd seen the numbers camped outside.
Valg, human men loyal to Erawan, some fell beasts, yet nothing like the ilken or the
Wyrdhounds, or even the witches.
Aelin could wipe them away before the sun had fully risen. A few blasts of her power, and that army would be gone.
Yet she had not presented it as an option in their planning last night.
He'd seen the hope shining in the eyes of the people in the keep, the awe of the children as she'd passed. The Fire-Bringer, they'd whispered. Aelin of the Wildfire.
How soon would that awe and hope crumble today when not a spark of that fire was unleashed? How soon would the men's fear turn rank when the Queen of Terrasen did not wipe away Morath's legions?
He hadn't been able to ask her. Had told himself to, had roared at himself to ask these past few weeks, when even their training hadn't summoned an ember.
But he couldn't bring himself to demand why she wouldn't or couldn't use her power, why they had seen or felt nothing of it after those initial few days of freedom. Couldn't ask what Maeve and Cairn had done to possibly make her fear or hate her magic enough that she didn't touch it.
Worry and dread gnawing at him, Rowan slipped from the room, the din of preparations greeting him the moment he entered the hall. A heartbeat later, the door opened behind him, and steps fell into sync with his own, along with a familiar, wicked scent.
"They burned her."
Rowan glanced sidelong at Fenrys. "What?" But Fenrys nodded to a passing healer.
"Cairn—and Maeve, through her orders."
"Why are you telling me this?" Fenrys, blood oath or no, what he'd done for Aelin or no, was not privy to these matters. No, it was between him and his mate, and no one else.
Fenrys threw him a grin that didn't meet his eyes. "You were staring at her half the night. I could see it on your face. You're all thinking it—why doesn't she just burn the enemy to hell?" Rowan aimed for the washing station down the hall. A few soldiers and healers stood along the metal trough, scrubbing their faces to shake the sleep or nerves.
Fenrys said, "He put her in those metal gauntlets. And one time, he heated them over an open brazier. There…" He stumbled for words, and Rowan could barely breathe. "It took the healers two weeks to fix what he did to her hands and wrists. And when she woke up, there was nothing but healed skin. She couldn't tell what had been done and what was a nightmare." Rowan reached for one of the ewers that some of the children refilled every few moments and dumped it over his head. Icy water bit into his skin, drowning out the roaring in his ears.
"Cairn did many things like that." Fenrys took up a ewer himself, and splashed some into his hands before rubbing them over his face.
Rowan's hands shook as he watched the water funnel toward the basin set beneath the trough.
"Your claiming marks, though." Fenrys wiped his face again. "No matter what they did to her, they remained. Longer than any other scar, they stayed."
Yet her neck had been smooth when he'd found her.
Reading that thought, Fenrys said, "The last time they healed her, right before she escaped. That's when they vanished. When Maeve told her that you had gone to Terrasen."
The words hit like a blow. When she had lost hope that he was coming for her. Even the greatest healers in the world hadn't been able to take that from her until then.
Rowan wiped his face on the arm of his jacket. "Why are you telling me this?" he repeated.
Fenrys rose from the trough, drying his face with the same lack of ceremony. "So you can stop wondering what happened. Focus on something else today." The warrior kept pace beside him as they headed for where they'd been told a meager breakfast would be laid out.
"And let her come to you when she's ready."
"She's my mate," Rowan growled. "You think I don't know that?" Fenrys could shove his snout into someone else's business.
Fenrys held up his hands. "You can be brutal, when you want something."
"I'd never force her to tell me anything she wasn't ready to say." It had been their bargain from the start. Part of why he'd fallen in love with her.
He should have known then, during those days in Mistward, when he found himself sharing parts of himself, his history, that he'd never told anyone. When he found himself needing to tell her, in fragments and pieces, yes, but he'd wanted her to know. And Aelin had wanted to hear it. All of it.
They discovered Aelin and Elide already at the buffet table, grim-faced as they plucked up pieces of bread and cheese and dried fruit. No sign of Gavriel or Lorcan.
Rowan came up behind his mate and pressed a kiss to her neck. Right to where his new claiming marks lay.
She hummed, and offered him a bite of the bread she'd already dug into while gathering the rest of her food. He obliged, the bread thick and hearty, then said, "You were asleep when I left a few minutes ago, yet you somehow beat me to the breakfast table." Another kiss to her neck. "Why am I not surprised?"
Elide laughed beside Aelin, piling food onto her own plate. Aelin only elbowed him as he fell into line beside her.
The four of them ate quickly, refilled their waterskins at the fountain in an interior courtyard, and set about finding armor. There was little on the upper levels that was fit for wearing, so they descended into the keep, deeper and deeper, until they came across a locked room.
"Should we, or is it rude?" Aelin mused, peering at the wooden door.
Rowan sent a spear of his wind aiming for the lock and splintered it apart. "Looks like it was already open when we got here," he said mildly.
Aelin gave him a wicked grin, and Fenrys pulled a torch off its bracket in the narrow stone hallway to illuminate the room beyond.
"Well, now we know why the rest of the keep is a piece of shit," Aelin said, surveying the trove. "He's kept all the gold and fun things down here."
Indeed, his mate's idea of fun things was the same as Rowan's: armor and swords, spears and ancient maces.
"He couldn't have distributed this?" Elide frowned at the racks of swords and daggers.
"It's all heirlooms," said Fenrys, approaching one such rack and studying the hilt of a sword. "Ancient, but still good. Really good," he added, pulling a blade from its sheath.
He glanced at Rowan. "This was forged by an Asterion blacksmith."
"From a different age," Rowan mused, marveling at the flawless blade, its impeccable condition. "When Fae were not so feared."
"Are we just going to take it? Without even Chaol's permission?" Elide chewed on her lip.
Aelin snickered. "Let's consider ourselves swords-for-hire. And as such, we have fees that need to be paid." She hefted a round, golden shield, its edges beautifully engraved with a motif of waves. Also Asterion-made, judging by the craftsmanship. Likely for the Lord of Anielle— the Lord of the Silver Lake. "So, we'll take what we're owed for today's battle, and spare His Lordship the task of having to come down here himself."
Gods, he loved her.
Fenrys winked at Elide. "I won't tell if you don't, Lady."
Elide blushed, then waved them onward. "Collect your earnings, then."
Rowan did. He and Fenrys found armor that could fit them—in certain areas. They had to forgo the entire suit, but took pieces to enforce their shoulders, forearms, and shins. Rowan had just finished strapping greaves on his legs when Fenrys said, "We should bring some of this up for Lorcan and Gavriel."
Indeed they should. Rowan eyed other pieces, and began collecting extra daggers and blades, then sections from another suit that might fit Lorcan, Fenrys doing the same for Gavriel.
"You must charge a great deal for your services," Elide muttered. Even while the Lady of Perranth tied a few daggers to her own belt.
"I need some way to pay for my expensive tastes, don't I?" Aelin drawled, weighing a dagger in her hands.
But she hadn't donned any armor yet, and when Rowan gave her an inquiring glance, Aelin jerked her chin toward him. "Head upstairs-track down Lorcan and Gavriel. I'll find you soon."
Her face was unreadable for once. Perhaps she wanted a moment alone before battle. And when Rowan tried to find any words in her eyes, Aelin turned toward the shield she'd claimed. As if contemplating it.
So Rowan and Fenrys headed upstairs, Elide helping to haul their stolen gear. No one stopped them. Not with the sky turning to gray, and soldiers rushing to their positions on the battlements.
Rowan and Fenrys didn't have far to go.
They'd be stationed by the gates at the lower level, where the battering rams might come flying through if Morath got desperate enough.
On the level above them, Chaol sat astride his magnificent black horse, the mare's breath curling from her nostrils. Rowan lifted a hand in greeting, and Chaol saluted back before gazing toward the enemy army.
The khaganate would make the first maneuver, the initial push to get Morath moving.
"I always forget how much I hate this part," Fenrys muttered. "The waiting before it begins."
Rowan grunted his agreement.
Gavriel prowled up to them, Lorcan a dark storm behind him. Rowan wordlessly handed the latter the armor he'd gathered. "Courtesy of the Lord of Anielle." Lorcan gave him a look that said he knew Rowan was full of shit, but began efficiently donning the armor, Gavriel doing the same.
Whether the soldiers around them marked that armor, whether Chaol recognized it, no one said a word.
"Ready now," Chaol called out to the men of his keep.
This would be it—today. Whether that hope remained or fractured.
Already, the awakening sky revealed two siege towers being hauled toward them. Right to the wall. Far closer than Rowan had last noted when flying overhead last night. Morath, it seemed, had not been sleeping, either.
The ruks would remain back with their own army, driving Morath to the keep. To be picked off here, one by one.
"We have minutes until that first tower makes contact with the wall," Gavriel observed. A scan of the battlements, the soldiers atop them, revealed no sign of Aelin. Lorcan indeed muttered, "Someone better tell her to stop primping and get here." Rowan snarled in warning.
"Archers!" Chaol's bellow rang out. Behind them, down the battlements, bows groaned. Fenrys unslung the bow across his back and nocked an arrow into place.
Rowan kept his own bow strapped across his back, the quiver untouched, Gavriel and Lorcan doing the same. No need to waste them on a few soldiers when their aim might be needed with far worse targets later in the day.
But one of them had to be noted felling soldiers. For whatever it would do to rally their spirits. And Fenrys, as fine an archer as Rowan, he'd admit, would do just fine.
Rowan followed the line of Fenrys's arrowhead to where he'd marked one of the bearers of a siege ladder. "Make it impressive," he muttered.
"Mind your own business," Fenrys muttered back, tracking his target with the tip of his arrow as he awaited Chaol's order.
If Aelin didn't arrive within another moment, he'd have to leave the battlements to find her. What in hell had held her up?
Lorcan drew his ancient blade, which Rowan had witnessed felling soldiers in kingdoms far from here, in wars far longer than this one. "They'll head for the gates when that siege tower docks," Lorcan said, glancing from the battlements to the gate a level below, the small bastion of men in front of it. Trees had been felled to prop up the metal doors, but should a solid enough group of enemy soldiers swarm it, they might get those supports and the heavy locks down within minutes. And open the gates to the hordes beyond
"We don't let them get that far," Rowan said, eyeing up the massive tower lumbering closer. Soldiers teemed behind it, waiting to scale its interior. "Chaol brought the tower down the other day without our help. It can happen again."
"Volley!" Chaol's roar echoed off the stones, and arrows sang.
Like a swarm of locusts, they swept upon the soldiers marching below. Fenrys's arrow found its mark with lethal precision.
Within a heartbeat, another was on its tail. A second soldier at the siege ladder fell.
Where the hell was Aelin—
Morath didn't halt. Marched right over the soldiers who fell on their front lines.
The pulse of human fear down the battlements rippled against his skin. The cadre would have to strike fast, and strike well, to shake it away.
The siege tower lumbered closer. One glance from Rowan had him and his friends moving toward the spot it would now undeniably strike upon the battlements. Close enough to the stairs down to the gate. Morath had chosen the location well.
Some of the soldiers they passed were praying, a shuddering push of words into the frigid morning air.
Lorcan said to one of them, "Save your breath for the battle, not the gods."
Rowan shot him a look, but the man, gaping at Lorcan, quieted.
Chaol ordered another volley, and arrows flew, Fenrys firing as he walked. As if he were barely bothered.
Still, the whispered prayers continued down the line, swords shaking along with them.
Up by Chaol, the soldiers held firm, faces solid.
But here, on this level of the battlements ... those faces were pale. Wide-eyed.
"Someone better say something inspiring," Fenrys said through gritted teeth, firing another arrow. "Or these men are going to piss themselves in a minute."
For a minute was all they had left, as the first siege tower inched closer.
"You've got the pretty face," Lorcan retorted. "You'd do a better job of it."
"It's too late for speeches," Rowan cut in before Fenrys could reply. "Better to show them what we can do."
Rowan steadied his breathing, readying his magic to rip through Valg lungs. He'd fell a few with his blades first. To show how easily it could be done, that Morath was desperate and victory would be near. The magic would come later.
The siege tower groaned as it slowed to a stop.
Just as the wall under them shuddered at its impact, Fenrys whispered, "Holy gods."
Not at the bridge that snapped down, soldiers teeming in the dark depths inside.
But at who emerged from the keep archway behind them. What emerged.
Rowan didn't know where to look. At the soldiers pouring out of the siege tower, leaping onto the battlements, or at Aelin.
At the Queen of Terrasen.
She'd found armor below the keep. Beautiful, pale gold armor that gleamed like a summer dawn. Holding back her braided hair, a diadem lay flush against her head. Not a diadem, but a piece of armor. Part of some ancient set for a lady long since buried.
A crown for war, a crown to wear into battle. A crown to lead armies.
There was no fear on her face, no doubt, as Aelin hefted her shield, flipping Goldryn in her hand once before the first of Morath's soldiers was upon her.
A swift, upward strike cleaved the Morath grunt from navel to chin. His black blood sprayed, but she was already moving, flowing like a stream around a rock.
Rowan launched into movement, his blades finding their marks, but still he watched her.
Aelin slammed her shield against an oncoming warrior, Goldryn slicing through another before she plunged the blade into the soldier she'd deflected.
She did it again, and again.
All while heading toward that siege tower. Unhindered. Unleashed.
A call went down the line. The queen has come.
Soldiers waiting their turn whirled toward them. Aelin took on three Valg soldiers and left them dying on the stones.
She planted her line before the gaping maw of that siege tower, right in the path of those teeming hordes. Every moment of the training she'd done on the ship here, on the road, every new blister and callus—all to rebuild herself for this.
The queen has come.
Goldryn unfaltering, her shield an extension of her arm, Aelin glowed like the sun that now broke over the khagan's army as she engaged each soldier that hurtled her way.
Five, ten—she moved and moved and moved, ducking and swiping, shoving and flipping, black blood spraying, her face the portrait of grim, unbreaking will.
"The queen!" the men shouted. "To the queen!"
And as Rowan fought his way closer, as that cry went down the battlements and Anielle men ran to aid her, he realized that Aelin did not need an ounce of flame to inspire men to follow.
That she had been waiting, yanking at the bit, to show them what she, without magic, without any godly power, might do.
He'd never seen such a glorious sight. In every land, every battle, he had never seen anything as glorious as Aelin before the throat of the siege tower, holding the line.
Dawn breaking around them, Rowan loosed a battle cry and tore into Morath.
This first battle would set the tone.
It would set the tone, and send a message.
Not to Morath.
Impress us, Hasar had said.
So she would. So she'd picked the golden armor and her battle-crown. And waited until dawn, until that siege tower slammed into the battlements, before unleashing herself.
To keep the men here from breaking, to wipe away the fear festering in their eyes.
To convince the khaganate royals of what she might do, what she could do. Not a threat, but a reminder.
She was no helpless princess. She had never been.
Goldryn sang with each swipe, her mind as cool and sharp as the blade while she assessed each enemy soldier, their weapons, and took them down accordingly. She dimly knew that Rowan fought at her side, Gavriel and Fenrys battling near her left flank.
But she was keenly aware of the mortal men who leaped into the fray with cries of defiance.
They'd made it this far. They would survive today, too. And the khaganate royals would know it.
Galloping hooves drowned out the battle, and then Chaol was there, sword flashing, driving into the unending tide that rushed from the tower's entrance.
"To Lord Chaol! To the queen!"
How far they both were from Rifthold.
From the assassin and the captain.
Arrows rose from the army beyond the wall, but a wave of icy wind snapped them into splinters before they could find any marks. A dark blur plunged past, and then Lorcan was at the siege tower's mouth, his sword swinging so fast Aelin could barely follow it. He battled his way across the metal bridge of the tower, into the stairwell beyond. Like he'd fight his way down the ramps and onto the battlefield itself. Below, a boom began. Morath had brought in their battering ram.
Aelin smiled grimly. She'd bring them all down. Then Erawan. And then she'd unleash herself upon Maeve.
At the opposite end of the field, the khagan's army pushed, gaining the field step by step.
Not helpless. Not contained. Never again.
Death became a melody in her blood, every movement a dance as the tide of soldiers pouring from the tower slowed. As if Lorcan was indeed forcing his way down the interior.
Those who got past him met her blade, or Rowan's. A flash of gold, and Gavriel had slaughtered his way into the siege tower as well, twin blades a whirlwind.
What Lorcan and the Lion would do upon reaching the bottom, how they'd dislodge the tower, she didn't know. Didn't think about it.
Not from this place of killing and movement, of breath and blood. Of freedom.
Death had been her curse and her gift and her friend for these long, long years. She was happy to greet it again under the golden morning sun.
#Chapter 57#Kingdom of Ash#Sarah J. Maas#Rowan Whitethorn#Aelin Galathynius#Chaol Westfall#First Read along with me NO SPOILERS PLEASE though warning for post & tags up to KoA 57 & more reacts/notes/quotes in tags below#Why didnt it blaze-they burned her-afraid2ask-had Aelin allowed it?Maeve stole&knew-no1had been able to heal past it-how powerful had been#Thought to thought-Hadn’t been able to ask why-She’s afraid too-Noone else-She was out for weeks after-Couldn’t tell her-The marks stayed#Fierce pride-One people-Happy-Breathing-Proof-Chaol didn’t knowWhat he didn’t sayHe knew it was her-Of the wildfire-How could he ask that?#But what had happened?-Training nothing-where is it?Fenrys knew-They didn’t pry-But he saw-Cold Fear hatred bit at him-He said it for her#cause he felt it too-What that’s horrific-No one other then them Knew-that it was that bad-Couldn’t breathe yeah me too-The ice again#That scar held longer than any-And they tried-she tried-Nehemia quick no more cowards-She’d given up and Fenrys knew it Aelin had broken-#before itShe knew they would break herThat’s what that run wasNot one of saving but one of leaving-I won’t go-When she’s lost hope#focus on something else stop wondering-He’ll say it so she doesn’t have to-Let her come when she’s ready-thanks Fenrys-His attitude is fair#but also he knows-Part of why he’d loved her-Should’ve known when she won’t talk it’s something that brutal-Needing wanting her to know#&hear-A mark-She fed him ACOTAR mate style-Laughed4once-the4-Their team-mischief&lovely-every door makes me miss Mort#THE ARMOR AND SWORDS-He reminds-He defends-She’s got a plan-Gods he loved her-my lady-if only gods for hire-the waves of it#lol sorry Lorcy they didn’t fit the armor-what’s her plan?-they know but they know enough to let her do her thing-unreadable-that shield#Aelin what’s the plan babe?-golden-she knows how to make an enterance-It’ll be done shortly so they listened to a queen knowing she’s hidin#Power of a good speech lol-Whether hope remained or fractured-Primping-Break in plan-NO THE TOWERS#Aelin&The/her cadre Breath for battle not gods Something inspiring-You’ve got a pretty face lol-the power of their names-Holygodsliterally#The queen has come-A crown-No fear-Aelin Anielle armor no braid nothing burning-3 months of power storing-she knew what show they needed#love her or hate her the woman’s got style- Rowan babe this is war you can’t just ogle your wife lol-Still he watched her-she is the sun#The queen has come-For this-She was ready-To the queen-Grim unbreaking will-What she without magic could do-Nothing like her#So she would show them-To the people+A reminder;She has never been a helpless princessno lost queenno before anything#the one you want now The Queen of Assassins. The Prince Rowan at her side.Her cadre around her.They’d survive to tell the tale#&the people know it.Hope.How far from the assassin and the captain we’ve come.the right hand man.What about Elide?Her plan1by1#Defiant not helpless dare I say she felt it too-Never againDeath her melody the one thing they all sharedHer never ending pursuit of Freedo#death her first friend the sun her first gift the question&answerAelins not using her power shes saving it for Maeve&gives that up for them
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