Internal Distress

‘Fuck! Gods damn it all!’

Voah was not ok. She was continuing to remain calm outwardly while silently screaming internally falling apart. She felt as if she could punch through steel right now, but she had to keep her composure both for herself and for the group. It would do no good to panic or be blinded by the pain of failure and loss.

Her throat was tight, but the internal distress showed only in the urgency of her breathing and the focus on her purposeful preparation to leave.

‘Save the fury for when you can use it. Control the fire or it will consume you.’

Why take Gonyaul? To use him somehow, she concluded, but for how long she couldn’t guess. The Alossi seemed to have wanted him intact… for now… but he wasn’t safe for long.

Gods! What could any of them do? Steal a ship or small boat from the city? No, they would have to ask for help if they wanted to be quick. But was there even enough time before the Horde arrived? How many Alossi were there?

Unless she was able to execute a solitary stealth rescue, which didn’t look like a viable option, she would need the Inquisition and/or soldiers. Fuck! How? She would have to give away her purpose. Give away Gonyaul. Did it matter? Vastad already had them marked… maybe she could play up the threat of the Alossi or her own importance as champion of Vastad. She could lie… she was good at lying when she could fucking control herself. She could pretend it was all a ruse to get close to the Vaux… it might work but it felt so wrong. She would figure it out when she came to that situation.

Overhearing their new companion, Voah shifted her worry to location.

Sentinel Island… but where?

Think! Alossi… the wreckage… but they wouldn’t still be hanging around there would they? She was sure they would have encountered the Alossi sooner. Unless… the hole? That didn’t seem likely. Probably not… more likely a result of whatever prisoner they were transporting. The dust devil? Or some other wielder or demon?

And the natives… they were nothing like the silver soldier… they didn’t scream Alossi to her…

Those stones with the faces… territory markers? Or wards of some kind? Wards… To keep away the natives? Or the magikal prisoner? Or both? Then maybe…’

“Horse Bay…” Voah turned to Tarmen. “The village that you and Hunter spotted in Horse Bay… do you think the natives lived there? Or could it have been Alossi?”