Page 104 of Sway's Peace
There, at the front, dark red blood dripping from his sharp teeth, Loyalty was standing, surrounded by the bleeding bodies of the domini he had pulled off Sway. Even as he watched, Loyalty dropped the last one to the ground – a particularly large male that hit with a grunt.
Loyalty stepped over him, running for Sway.
“Let’s go!” The reptilian male yelled, grabbing him by the wrist.
Sway yanked back. “I can’t! Grace-!”
He turned, looking back at the dais.
His father was still there. Looking at him.
Hatred. That was what was burning in his gaze. Cold disgust, distrust, the barest shades of fear, all of it covered by a righteousness that burned the back of Sway’s neck.
Neither Vweet nor Grace were in sight. Which, Sway was sure, was the point. Veesway had separated them for exactly this reason.
“Get them!” Veesway ordered.
Not to the crowd of pacifistic farasie who were all attempting to get away.
But to the domini mercenaries that were pushing past, weapons in hand, trying to get the situation back under control.
“Sway!” Loyalty barked, teeth snapping together as his muzzle slammed shut. A punctuation to the demand for his attention.
But Sway was still staring at his father. The male who sired him. The one who had come this far, done all this, to try to save him. Chasing his ghost. Chasing the barest hope that maybe, somehow, his son would be out there somewhere.
Eefwan, the youngling. Still fluffy with his baby feathers, no crest having grown in yet, singing to his parents as he chased after them, laughing and whistling. Happy. Innocent. Whole.
And yet, now he stood, looking down at his son Eefwan the Pacifist, the murderer, the torturer. A male who had just proved, without hesitation, beyond a doubt, that he was more than capable and willing to harm others.
The domini female he kicked had hit the ground hard and was groaning, trying to stand, while the male was unmoving. He very well could be dead. Sway didn’t know.
He didn’t care.
Because Grace wasn’t here, and he couldn’t leave without her.
But even as he took a step towards Veesway, Loyalty was there, grabbing his arm, gripping him tight this time, and yanked him back.
“We have togo!” He yelled again.
“I can’t leave her!” Sway snapped back, angry that Loyalty would interfere when his female was here, somewhere, in a city that had condemned her for no other crime than being his.
But to the farasie people, that was enough.
Loyalty snarled, shaking his head, flinging blood that splattered against Sway’s feathers. It was an annoyance, and not even one of disgust. “They’re not going to hurt her. But they very well will hurt us. Now comeon!”
Loyalty jerked him close and grabbed him by the head. He shoved him down, just in time to avoid the stunning bolts that had been shot his way. They flew over them, hitting the ground with a pop of the electric nodes firing despite having missed landing in flesh.
Sway wanted to argue further, but he didn’t get the chance.
The courtyard was quickly emptying of farasie. His people might not fight, but they were certainly adept at fleeing. Possibly for that very reason.
It opened a lot of room for the domini – who definitely did not have any qualms against violence – to come rushing their way.
It was a battle. The type Sway hadn’t been involved in for a long time. Not since Tanin had made him the promise that he’d never have to fight again.
It came back to him almost too quickly.
Domini were impressive fighters. They loved it. Lived for it. They weren’t just unburdened by ideas of pacifism, but even the mental load violence often wrought. There was no shame to defeat for the domini, only in retreat and surrender.
