The Sacrifice
Added 2025-05-28 16:37:03 +0000 UTC“We’ve all been weighing in on this, but there’s one person we haven’t asked.” The youngest dryad interrupts. “Lyra.”
That attention again, all these swirling forces pressing in. Forces much bigger and much older than Lloyd or Lyra or L. Forces set in motion millennia ago. Forces she is certain will carry on long after her story concludes. A conclusion, she worries, that is very much on the horizon. And somehow, through fate or chance, her. Just her. Caught at the crux.
L turns to face the dryads. "The day of my hunt. A Wilds nymph tried to help me. To free me. Helios took her. No one will tell me what happened to her."
“Wild-caught nymphs are usually considered unfit for the domestic population.” The androgynous dryad answers softly. “She will have been taken below the Rookery, to be broken and used for breeding stock."
L's jaw tightens. "...free her. Promise me that. Whatever else happens.”
The silent regard returns, settling over the dais like a cloak of gossamer. One of the dryads stands, reaching beneath her mask. She extends her hand and casts a blood-red blossom that falls at L’s feet. Another dryad rises ponderously, tossing a flower the colour of night sky beside it. One by one, two dozen blossoms fill the table, deep-hued petals scattered across the surface. Fili bows her head, placing a pale blue bloom in L’s cupped hands.
And, finally, Astraea steps close, her eyes downcast and smiling wistfully. She takes a golden buttercup from her branches and tucks it into L's hair.
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Excerpt from Imago Ch23: The Humanists
I love these kinds of self sacrifice moments.
Unfortunately for all the protagonists we write 😅
