Just A Little Push

[saerwen]

Damion knelt by the swing as he held a hand over Adelahn's burnt wing. He gently cooled the area as he sat and thought. Perhaps he had been too hard on Tryss. She was just a child. How could she understand those things? But he had also taught her and Adelahn not to attack each other since their birth. He hadn't wanted them to live a childhood like his own. He had always been in competition with his brothers and sisters. That was no way to live your life, in a race against your own siblings. He wanted Tryss and Adelahn to always get along, to always understand each other.

Adelahn stirred slightly and turned her head to look at him, her blue eyes still glowing with power that was being used to heal her. She looked at her father with hopeful eyes, but while he said nothing, he looked at her with a rather stern gaze. He didn't approve. She looked away and sniffled softly, a tear coming from her crystal eyes.

She whispered softly, "I'm sorry, daddy. I told him it wasn't a good idea." Damion bit his lip to prevent himself asking her another question. She was really too tired for interrogation. And her response already told him what he wanted to know. Bijan. Damion cursed the ground he walked on. He knew he should never have let that man into his home. He was trying to tear Damion's family apart, and he was starting with their daughters. His anger shouldn't have been directed towards Tryss, but his father. While Tryss and Adelahn did err, the real villain was Bijan, who influenced them to do something they shouldn't. Like Satan speaking to Eve in the garden. It was almost too much. The magic over Adelahn's wing grew even icier.

_____________

Bijan saw Miriel's attempt to cast the seriousness off as a sign that she herself could hardly believe the events ha taken place. It seemed his targeting process had been correct. He had no qualms with the fact that the two girls would end up innocent victims. In war, people got hurt, and right now, he was fighting to get his son back. He was not someone that would lose easily.

Surveying the ground once more, he raised an eyebrow at her, "This reeks of more than an accident. Where is the little one, Adelahn?"

Bijan raised his other eyebrow when Miriel looked at him with an accusing glance. He raised his hands in a defensive position, "I promise I didn't know anything. I cam out for a walk down the mountain. The house was getting a little warm for me, so I went for a walk to cool off. I saw them playing their game and they told me that they wanted to get better with their skills, so I urged them on and walked away. I didn't thin it would turn into a war game. They were going at it quite peacefully when I left them, even if they did have a spark of competition in their eyes." He lowered his hands in defeat, as though his heart had been broken by Miriel's words. "My son seems to have spread a bad word around concerning me. I am sure it is no less than I deserve. I wasn't exactly the most endearing father in the world, and certainly not the father Damion needed, but I would never set my own grandchildren against each other. I didn't do that to my children, why would I do that to my grandchildren." With a look of wounded pride and despair he looked at Miriel mournfully, "I hope that one day, my dear" he made sure to use the phrase Damion was infamous for in order to draw a connection between father and son, "I will acquit myself of all the wrongs my son has accused me of. At least in your eyes, perhaps."

With that he turned and walked away towards the front door of the house, still playing quite the broken-hearted father. He could act well if he needed to.

[»Míríel«]

Miriel sighed slightly. She should have known that Bijan would call her bluff. Casting a glace around her she saw how ridiculous her previous description of the condition was. If she had not been so shocked, an embarrassed blush would have risen to her face. Shifting Tryss slightly in her arms she answered his query. "With Damion." She didn't feel like she needed to state anything else. Bijan already knew something else had gone on, he probably could deduct that the parent and child of the same element were paired, which only meant that one or both of the children had been injured. Miriel looked down at the dried blood that streaked Tryss's white sides from where the ice hit.

His alibi did seem reasonable. If Miriel and Damion hadn't been longing for time to themselves in peace and quiet, they too would have been outside enjoying the great outdoors. "You should have stopped them." She snapped at him with her voice harsh and bitter. Shaking her head she frowned. "I'm sorry. I just think I'm still a bit in shock after what has happened. I know what it is like to feed off the energy fire possesses, but I never expected my daughter to experience it, especially this young. " Miriel listened to his defense of his character and was slightly bewildered. His words made sense, but at the same time something about them didn't feel right. Still she felt her defenses starting to drop as confusion started to cloud her mind. His words touched her as he seemed to accept the fact that he wasn't the best father, and almost with a tinge of regret. Once he used the words, "My dear" she felt her heart warm slightly as a slight smile came to her face. When she looked up at him, trying to figure out what to say, instead of seeing all the differences between him and his son, she was starting the see the similarities. The way he looked down at her with blue eyes, very akin to Damion's, the way his skin and hair were of a beautiful ivory. She gave him a look as if she couldn't trust herself at the moment, or didn't know what to think about this change in him. No doubt Bijan could see doubts begin to surround her as he spoke. "Perhaps...." She paused. "But we will have to see."

She found herself alone in the battle field. With a sigh she knew she had nothing left to do but to follow Bijan, and go back to the house. So she started her journey back slowly. When she started to try and make sense of her knotted thoughts she shook her head. It wasn't worth it. She would think about it later, perhaps then she could make sense of them. Plus she had run outside without a coat, and the cold was beginning to make her shiver. Warming up her body enough to keep the chill away from her and her daughter she headed back.

--

Tryss, although she had gone limp, could hear the conversation that was going on around her. She almost wanted to snarl when Bijan asked about Adelahn. The little voice in her head exhoed, "Adelahn, all anyone cares about it Adelahn.". "Besides Mother...she cared." Tryss added, the demon inside her mind just shrugged its shoulders. When she heard Bijan leaving she cracked her eye open. He looked so dejected, like he hadn't a friend in the world. What if he was right, what if he really didn't have an evil intent. He had argued with her father, and Tryss had hated him from that point. Now, with Damion now seen as a sort of enemy Tryss was beginning to wonder if Bijan had been in the right all along, and Damion had been in the wrong. After all why did Damion leave his family behind? In the case of the fight all Bijan was doing was trying to expand their knowledge and skills in fighting. He let them push the limits and try something new. A sort of respect stirred in her heart. Even though he didn't stop the fight, but stood aside and let them tear each other apart, at least he had let them be on the edge of danger. He had shown her what it was like to truly fight, she already longed for a fight again. She longed for that sense of power you felt when you broke through your enemies defenses, saw them crumble to the ground.

Exhaustion put a stop to all of her thoughts. Unable to keep herself as warm as she would have liked, Tryss was thankful when Miriel warmed them both up a bit to take the edge out of the cold. Cold, ice, a sense of hatred stirred within her. She hated them, hated what they brought. Before she knew what happened she found herself lapse into a world of unconsciousness. Her dreams were full of fighting, and her triumphs in them. A smile came to her lips. She looked so innocent sleeping, like her old self, no one would have known the darkness that was growing within her.

[saerwen]

As Bijan stepped past the threshold of Damion's home, he smirked. Somehow, the events of today had gone just as planned. His schemes didn't usually go through without a hiccup, but this one certainly passed muster. He had planned plenty of back-up explanations in case Damion had been the one to catch him or to find ways to make it look as though he were trying to stop the girls right as Damion and Miriel arrived, but none of them had been necessary. And Miriel was as good as sold. He could tell. Even though fire was harsh upon those who crossed it, too often it trusted without a second glance. So predictable. He started up the stairs, ensuring not to get caught in Damion's gaze. He knew his son would not be so easy to sway, and he also knew that a fight between the two of them right now might completely abolish the spell he cast over Miriel. For now he would lie low and leave the family alone to recover, and then he would come back at them again. If Damion didn't kick him out, that was... With the temperature he felt coming from the back porch, he could tell his son was furious. Maybe he should fly out for a while-- No, there was no need. Damion would want him gone, but the children were his main care right now, he would focus on them before his father came to mind. His smirk faded. You know he will only cherish them from now on. You are a thing of the past. This quest is foolish. You will have to kill him before he turns back. Cursing his thoughts Bijan pledged that if it came down to it, he would rather kill his son and his latest family additions before leaving things this way. With resolve he finished climbing the stairs and walked quietly into his room.

THE END