( Hold the wards. Hold them. Brittle though they are, strained by the cloying, claustrophobic sorcery of the surroundings, hold them still —
He cannot move to Kanesada's aid, cannot offer Bichen's blade and her tender succour, not without transgressing against the equilibrium of the magic already cast. So, grip tight, jaw locked, the world around him screaming with the tinny beating of Kanesada's sword against an invisible, jarring heft —
He waits. And waits. And does not shiver when a brindled whirlwind drags sand to bruise his back and cheek, when Kanesada's attacks feel land-changing, seismic. When, finally, the grounds no longer wither, but liven again, and though he had not thought the wasteland could never rejuvenate — now he sees it.
And he calls to Kanesada, the proof of their victory, won: )
...settle. ( There is an animal within this man, a beast Lan Wangji had not glimpsed before. He speaks to it, tenderly: ) Settle your fury, it is done.
no subject
( Hold the wards. Hold them. Brittle though they are, strained by the cloying, claustrophobic sorcery of the surroundings, hold them still —
He cannot move to Kanesada's aid, cannot offer Bichen's blade and her tender succour, not without transgressing against the equilibrium of the magic already cast. So, grip tight, jaw locked, the world around him screaming with the tinny beating of Kanesada's sword against an invisible, jarring heft —
He waits. And waits. And does not shiver when a brindled whirlwind drags sand to bruise his back and cheek, when Kanesada's attacks feel land-changing, seismic. When, finally, the grounds no longer wither, but liven again, and though he had not thought the wasteland could never rejuvenate — now he sees it.
And he calls to Kanesada, the proof of their victory, won: )
...settle. ( There is an animal within this man, a beast Lan Wangji had not glimpsed before. He speaks to it, tenderly: ) Settle your fury, it is done.