Page 124 of Sway's Peace
More than when he used to live on Rik-Vane, he was filled with disgust towards himself. Looking back, all the battles he could have fought, all the times he stood behind his brothers, all the days he locked himself in the bridge of the ship to avoid a fight, came rushing back to him. Memories to haunt him and, this time, he had no one to blame but himself.
Had he really tried to emulate this male? For what purpose? To what end? Did he want to be seen as someone who refused to fight their own battles? Not even could not, but outright declared that they simply would not.
“No,” he said, speaking his thoughts aloud as his hand tightened around his father’s neck. “I will not be weak like you. I will not be useless like you.”
With a grunt of force, he threw his father back. He didn’t go far, but he landed hard, snapping some of his tail feathers under his own weight.
Veesway tried to scramble back to his feet, but Sway drew back hit foot and slammed it –bam!– across his face. He felt his nose crunch under his boot. His father fell back, groaning, blood staining the stoney ground. Even now, he did nothing to protect himself. But he looked around, trying to find someone to do it for him.
Pathetic.
If that’s what pacifism was, then he wanted nothing to do with it.
“You have what you want,” Sway said, stepping back from him. “You are no father of mine.”
Spitting out his blood, Veesway glared up at him. “You are a disgrace. And I will see you punished for this!”
“If there are consequences, then we’ll overcome them,” Sway said, unafraid. “But there are no future consequences that will protect you from me now.”
Veesway clenched his jaw, facing him without fear. “Kill me then. I am not afraid of death. I die whole and intact. And I would rather that than live broken as you.”
“I am not going to kill you,” Sway smiled. “Don’t you know? They called me the Pacifist. Because I wouldn’t let my victims die. No matter how much they begged.”
Turning, he walked away from him and every foolish, weak-minded philosophy he’d allowed himself to believe in. The finalpiece of his childhood. One he should have buried along with the rest of it. He didn’t know why he’d tried to cling to it so hard.
Grace was waiting for him. Her expression concerned, her eyes shiny wet with tears even as she reached for him. He held her close with one arm, looking over her head as she clung to his side. Loyalty had come to stand behind her and he was wiping blood from his muzzle. A few cuts through his scales had drops of blood welling up that were even now retreating back into his body.
“Great, we all ready to go then?” He asked like they were out for a pleasant stroll and had just finished the errand that drove them out in the first place.
Sway nodded and looked over at the Humility. Trove was still having fun, shooting off the very tops of various buildings just to prove he could. Sway lifted his other arm and waved it in the air, signaling out to whoever was watching with that one gesture, alerting them that he was ready.
Whether it was Alred monitoring him on cameras, or Tanin watching him directly, or even Trove keeping watch at the gunner’s position, his signal had an immediate response. From the bottom of the ship, the landing shuttle emerged with a sudden drop that turned into a smooth glide as its own power took over.
Unlike the larger Humility that was probably pushing its engines to the edge just hovering overhead, the landing shuttle was specifically designed to go from no to full gravity. It was quick and nibble as it made its way across the city to come to a halt right there at the edge of the stairs. It floated in place, the back dropping into a ramp.
Sorbet and Tebros, the twin avanava males, dark blue scales gleaming in the light, stepped out, their twin swords in hand. They immediately came to flank their sides, expressions closed off and unreadable. They stared at Veesway, like he might actually be a threat. Their presence at his side, finally, made Sway relax.
More than this place, than his father, than anything in his own culture, he didn’t feel like he was welcome and at home until just now, flanked by his brothers.
“Ready to go?” Sway asked, smiling sweetly at Grace, brushing her hair from her face.
She nodded, but her grip didn’t ease up on him. She continued to cling on tight as he led the way into the shuttle, Loyalty following behind, the twins bringing up the rear, walking backwards as they guarded their exit.
The extraction was smooth and clean. The shuttle door closed behind them, but they were already taking off before it was fully shut.
Sway walked to the window and looked down below. Veesway was standing now at the edge of the headquarters. The wind was beating at his feathers. The Song smoked around him.
One last thing…
“Destroy it,” Sway said.
The order, relayed through Alred in comms up to Trove in the ship, was obeyed a moment later.
The remaining obelisks were all taken out, one after the other. The open courtyard with its pretty columns was blown to rubble. The inn was leveled. The walls were shaken and toppled. Thestreets were blasted until fire raged unchecked through the streets.
And there, one final shot. The top of the headquarters was destroyed. Rocks and rubble and twisted hunks of metal blasted back. So perfectly aimed, it completely missed the farasie male standing before them.
As Sway watched, his father crumpled to his knees. The only remaining person in the Song, now bleeding on the ruins of the monument he had built to the lies of his devotion to Eefwan.
