horology | the darkling

prorochestva sankt ilya

battle cry - beth crowley

and i know exactly what i'm for
to hurt and destroy and nothing moreand if it's true that i was made
i still don't know if i can change

/

'go on, burn a while' - anonymous

-

seraphina

Between combat training and the countless hours of studying in the library and her preparation for the Darkling's return, Seraphina had little time to even think about the General or his second in command and apparent arch nemesis. Which was surprising considering that it was the reason she was here in the first place.

She had visited Baghra in the morning. Genya had warned her extensively about her ruthless mannerism and harsh criticisms and this morning, she felt unready to face the condemnations.

As Seraphina strolled up the overgrown path that led to Baghra's hut, she could help but feel a chill running down her spine. The storm overhead still hung like a stubborn stain of grey in the sky and skittles of rain pounded down though the thin fog of the morning. With an eerie shock, she realised that the storm ominously resembled the Unsea.

Seraphina felt an anxious desire to practice her magic; she hadn't done so since she got to the Little Palace. She felt the power of time writhing in her veins, calling out to her. She considered the idea but quickly decided against it. It was too obvious, too risky. Even if she could slow down time, she couldn't erase memories.

The alabaster feather moved in and out of her fingers with a precision. Serphina used the feather as an anchor; a sign to let her know that she had performed her magic. If the feather hovered, she had triumphantly succeeded. The creamy feather was a gift from an old friend, now disgraced and banished for deserting the First Army. Serphina missed her but she wasn't prone to sentimentalism.

Seraphina was lost in her so lost in her thoughts that she would have walked right into the door if the branches of the thin birch trees hadn't wavered in the wind. The girl took a step back, startled by the proximity of the hut. It looked like a dismay place to train and an even more dismay place to live. Heat radiated in smoky fumes from inside.

The interior of the hut matched the woman who lived in it. Baghra was nothing like Seraphina expected. She was beautiful in an elderly kind of way; her skin did not sag but shone with a strange glow and her eyes were covered by a cloudy haze but her vision was sharp. The only feature of the woman that bore her age was the bones that seemed to protrude from her thin frame. Her skin were beams of moonshine; very pale and it seemed to shimmer in the light of the fire.

'Close the door, girl. You're letting all the heat out.'

The hiss that came out of her mouth sounded peculiar but the bitterness in her voice was unmistakable.

Seraphina quickly slammed the door shut. The hut shook violently, like a dog shaking to expel water.

'Too hard. You'll bring the whole place down on us before I start to train you.'

Delightful. Serphina imaged what Genya might say if she had been with her.

'Now, let me take a look at you'

Seraphina walked closer to Baghra. Her eyes bore into Seraphina's hazel ones, probing for hidden secrets. She gestured to a small chair, rickety and creaky as Seraphina sat down.

'They tell me you're the daughter Colonel Vessensky and that you are Inferni. Correct?'

Seraphina nodded once.