[ Lower intelligence, but no pulse signs of close minding, of swarming under one man's command. Lan Wangji means to speak the objection —
But Beitang Moran strikes back, the creature behind him topples over, speared, and a flickered arc of blood turned sludge from extensive decay and the mounting storms catapults to Lan Wangji's cheek. Lands. Splatters. He stills long enough in stupor to pass the back of his hand and smear it down, sketching himself marked and anointed, revolted and ridiculed.
Absently, he nearly (but never quite) neglects to raise his wire at the very last moment and catch another dead man in the spider's web of his entrapment. It's reeled in but struggles, like a hooked, squirming fish when it seizes the ground, and Lan Wangji distracts himself with the play of snow and shadows on its half-lingered, half-flayed-off face.. ]
They recognise threat of their own accord.
[ Do not, therefore, seem to require the leadership services of a guiding hand in granular detail. If Unhalad dictates them, it is not to the exclusion of their instincts — but to complement and refine their strategy.
So be it. They take the wager. Against the deep burning of the house, unwinding like thread from a fraying knot behind them, Lan Wangji shifts his gaze to Beitang Moran, holds it steady. ]
no subject
But Beitang Moran strikes back, the creature behind him topples over, speared, and a flickered arc of blood turned sludge from extensive decay and the mounting storms catapults to Lan Wangji's cheek. Lands. Splatters. He stills long enough in stupor to pass the back of his hand and smear it down, sketching himself marked and anointed, revolted and ridiculed.
Absently, he nearly (but never quite) neglects to raise his wire at the very last moment and catch another dead man in the spider's web of his entrapment. It's reeled in but struggles, like a hooked, squirming fish when it seizes the ground, and Lan Wangji distracts himself with the play of snow and shadows on its half-lingered, half-flayed-off face.. ]
They recognise threat of their own accord.
[ Do not, therefore, seem to require the leadership services of a guiding hand in granular detail. If Unhalad dictates them, it is not to the exclusion of their instincts — but to complement and refine their strategy.
So be it. They take the wager. Against the deep burning of the house, unwinding like thread from a fraying knot behind them, Lan Wangji shifts his gaze to Beitang Moran, holds it steady. ]
Will you come for him?