Triumphant return

[Oriena]

"Silence doesn't protect your family. You can't change what you are, and you can't lie about it forever."


It occurred to her that he might betray her presence -- might in fact be leading her anywhere. She only had assumption that he was a godling after all; she couldn't actually tell, the way she could with women. But she followed anyway, leaving tight knots of shining power in her wake, like tiny fallen pyramids. Small trails of smoke wisped where they fell, barely discernible at first; the flames kindled insidiously slow. It would be several minutes before they fully combusted.

He was wrong about no-one knowing she'd been here.

Her hands trailed the unadorned cement when they traversed empty corridors, and she finally dropped her hold on the power. She meant to leave a message with the destruction, not burn foxes out of a hole, and she didn't intend for Eliot to become ensnared in the flames. He was far more useful alive.

At the revealed door, Ori peered into the darkness. "I owe you a thank-you."
She contemplated the escape a moment more before she turned to face him, smiling. He'd taken a risk -- a huge one, despite having his own secrets to protect. Ori was grateful, but she did hate to be in another's debt. She was inclined to pay back the favour straight away. Which was why she wrenched her fist back and punched him squarely in the face. There was muscle behind the hit, and the tight precision of one accustom to the action. His head snapped back.

"We fought. You were very valiant. But you're still just a man, and what chance does a man stand against a god?"


Ori would keep his secret, and help him to do the same. She smirked, wiping blood on her thigh. "Remember you have friends, if you want them. I'm sure you'll be able to find me if you change your mind."


She didn't wait for an answer; a second later, she was gone.