Drabble for LJ's dao_challenge Lightning Round. Yes, yes, Dragon Age still belongs to BioWare.
The Morning After
Plop!
Jowan's eyes flew open and he stared about in panic, flattening himself amongst the reeds. Save for the mist curling along the ground, the only movement he could discern in the pre-dawn light was a spreading ring of ripples in the sluggish creek.
A fish, I guess. Or a turtle. This was confirmed when what he had taken for a mossy rock lifted its head and pushed off the deadfall it had been resting on. Plop! A second set of ripples intersected the first. He watched them numbly, shivering in soaked robes.
I just wanted to protect her. To protect all of us. He flinched at the memory of Lily's look of utter revulsion. She didn't even call me by name, just called me "Blood Mage" and recoiled from my touch as though I'm some...thing...that crawled out from under a rock.
Remembering how he left his best friend – his only friend – to face Gregoir's wrath he hunched his shoulders. I expect Lily's right. Maybe...maybe Gregoir will be so busy looking for me he'll overlook the others? His head drooped.
"Who am I kidding?" he whispered. He's more likely to take it out on them. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll make it up somehow. Balance the scales...somehow. His eyes burned. But if I'm ever going to do that, I have to keep moving.
With a deep breath Jowan pushed himself off the ground and barely stifled a yelp as pain lanced through his hand and up his arm. The deep gash in his palm – Blood Mage! – was filthy, throbbing & fevered. Kneeling, he gingerly rinsed it clean in the creek. After two failed attempts, he managed to work a healing spell to banish the impending infection and close the wound.
As he inspected his palm in the grey light, he could see that the new, pink scar cut across his lifeline. His mouth quirked.
Appropriate.
