[In the sharp cold of the stream, whose waters cut his bones, Patroclus' arms are a gentle buffer, his breath a warm affirmation of the life poured back into the once-empty vessel of his body. As Achilles washes the soot from his dear friend's chest with fingers numb and quaking, his memory pulls back to way that the women had so reverently cleaned Patroclus' flesh in preparation for his pyre; and when his hand passes over that dear head of curls he recalls bearing the weight of it to where all would burn away but for that which no mortal hands can grasp.
He shivers then, but not wholly for the water's chill.]
The savage Deemers seek salvation - such were the words upon their own babbling lips when in the forgotten town of Boneyard Junction our army clashed with theirs. It seems that for the sake of pleasing their false god and earning his favor, they wish to dig down into the belly of the life-giving earth, but why this is so I cannot say. Nor can I say what cause they may have for reducing to cinders the house in which we lately stayed, if truly it is they who have committed this crime.
As for the gods to whom the Qorral are suppliants, I know of only the sun god who over their native land reigns supreme. Perhaps they too suffer the selfsame plight as do we, straying so far from the sight of their gods that their prayers go unheard.
[Even the immortal gods have limits: just as they must abide by the paths that Fate sets before each man, allowing the course of each to unfold as has been decreed, so too might they be contained by borders carved in the blackness between the stars, beyond which even they can neither see nor hear. The kingdoms of gods are wider than those of men, but even these are not without end. For this discomfiting thought he feels small and set astray - thus he leans into Patroclus all the more with hands still carefully working.]
no subject
He shivers then, but not wholly for the water's chill.]
The savage Deemers seek salvation - such were the words upon their own babbling lips when in the forgotten town of Boneyard Junction our army clashed with theirs. It seems that for the sake of pleasing their false god and earning his favor, they wish to dig down into the belly of the life-giving earth, but why this is so I cannot say. Nor can I say what cause they may have for reducing to cinders the house in which we lately stayed, if truly it is they who have committed this crime.
As for the gods to whom the Qorral are suppliants, I know of only the sun god who over their native land reigns supreme. Perhaps they too suffer the selfsame plight as do we, straying so far from the sight of their gods that their prayers go unheard.
[Even the immortal gods have limits: just as they must abide by the paths that Fate sets before each man, allowing the course of each to unfold as has been decreed, so too might they be contained by borders carved in the blackness between the stars, beyond which even they can neither see nor hear. The kingdoms of gods are wider than those of men, but even these are not without end. For this discomfiting thought he feels small and set astray - thus he leans into Patroclus all the more with hands still carefully working.]