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The building Rudolf was parked atop shuddered with the force of Lienna's blizzard as the spell crashed into it, but the danger barely registered to him. A spear of ice peeked out from under the awning of the roof just before him, jostling the remnants of the man he'd just ki-

Another heave shook through his frame, but only a mewling whine came out this time; there was nothing left for Rudolf to throw up. It didn't help much - his abdomen ached dully and his throat burned all the same, and he still couldn't muster the strength to move no matter how much they yelled at him. Why were they yelling? If his legs could go anywhere, did those idiots really think he'd still have his nose lodged inches above a corpse? It was all his trembling arms could do just to keep him from diving face first into the blood still pooling underneath him. They got his participation in their stupid little battle out of him, and now they wanted more. This village could burn for all he cared, he just wanted to leave. The flapping of wings melded into the heartbeat in his ears, far off noises that had no relevance to the boy right now. All his thoughts had been drowned out by the overwhelming desire to curl up into a ball and wait for the skirmish to pass him by. Maybe they'd think he died too. Maybe he'd get lucky and disappear like he always does. If Noa's cursed blood could get him into this situation, it was the least that long-dead harlot could do to deliver him from the violence unscathed. 

The boy dimly registered that the fog had retreated for now, bringing the carnage he currently wallowed in into greater clarity. Footsteps resounded across the rooftop, as muffled as the wings of the knight that surely intended to skewer him on his next dive. It felt like he'd dunked his head into a lake and could hear only the muted echoes of what was happening on shore. They could see him. Repeatedly drilled mental exercises went off in Rudolf's subconscious, sigils he'd traced again and again appeared in the forefront of his mind, yet he lacked the conviction to manifest them into spell. He didn't want to kill someone again, he just wanted to disappear. Saint Noa was likely cackling at him from on high right now, bereft of her protection as he was.

Deliverance came at last, though not from his Crest, nor magic, nor the tip of a pegasus rider's lance; instead Rudolf found himself hoisted from the roof and dropped unceremoniously back on the ground. Though the metallic tang of blood no longer filled his nose, a quick glance around left him certain the odor of death would return any moment, corpses littered across the village as they were. A hand yanked him to his feet before he could even get his bearings, accompanied by orders that denied him his chance to curl up in a corner somewhere and hide. Haggard eyes finally raised themselves to look at his captor, silently pleading with Kaira to just drop him and let him rest.

[color=b300b3]"I-I... I don't..."[/color] The words wouldn't come. He wanted them to discard him at their earliest convenience, to throw him into a bush to wait out the battle invisibly until they came back for him. None of his limbs obeyed him and whatever seed of magical talent had been embedded within him failed to sprout in the garden of primal terror that had overgrown his mind; he couldn't fight. He never could, they just couldn't see it. Everyone saw him now, though. A hand fumbled at his side for his sword, grasping at nothing a few times before Rudolf finally realized that his current lack of coordination was not at fault for him not finding the handle, but that the weapon still protruded from that poor mage's back. He couldn't go back. He wouldn't. [color=b300b3]"Don't- don't make me-"[/color] If Kaira had been the target of his mumbling before, she wasn't any longer - just a generalized plea to whoever or whatever was listening to extricate him from the fight.

Rudolf was granted no such reprieve. Worse, the unit seemed to be [i]advancing[/i] for some reason. They'd blunder into another ambush and the mages they'd missed would bring up the rear and pick them off like fish in a barrel. The dark-haired boy trudged after them weakly at first, then bolted toward the main host with all the vigor of a terriied child. There was no choice but to acquiesce and regroup; he couldn't risk hiding so close to the enemy, one of the mages or pegasi might still know where he was. 

[hr][@Hero]
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