Written by Khairra
* * *
The night had felt much longer than it truly was. Sadoma had taken her home, to the O'Suilebhain guild hall, and watched over her a bit before departing.
But she could not sleep. She was in pain - both physical and emotional.
Hours passed by, but sleep was so fleeting she finally rose from bed and gathered her gear. Her first thought was to hunt. She should have been resting... she needed days, maybe even weeks to recover, Sadoma had told her. But she couldn't bear this insanity any longer.
She made her way over to Sadoma's house to tell him she was leaving, even though she knew he would be upset. And upset he was. He all but demanded she only go for a walk and not hunt, reminding her she needed to take it easy.
Then suddenly, out of the blue, a thought struck her... She knew where to go..
She would go to Cliodna.
She wasn't even entirely certain why, but once the thought had gotten in her head, she couldn't shake it. And when she told Sadoma, he nearly went berserk.
But Khairra didn't stay around to listen.. She ran swiftly back to the guild hall, Sadoma unable to catch up as he tripped all over himself in his drunken stupor.
By the time Khairra had ported out of Ruskin Hollow and into Domnann, both Sadoma and Vonstadt were calling to her through her scry stone, and she realized they were following her. She nearly leapt through the portal in the grove, tumbling out into Shannon Estuary and going straight into a run.
Maybe they would assume she had gone back to Connla to get a horse. It was her only chance of outrunning them. And while they were distracted thus, she made her way on foot south into Lough Gur.
What had started off such a long night was suddenly passing by in a blur. Vonstadt was pleading with her. Sadoma was pleading with her. But she couldn't allow herself to listen. There was too much guilt in it.. Her intention wasn't to hurt anyone. Her intention was to..well..was to put a stop to this impending genocide, this looming war. ..somehow. No longer able to stand their pleas, Khairra had flung her scry stone away and continued on.
Eventually she came to a halt, deep in the forests of Lough Gur, completely exhausted. She would not cross into the Bog of Cullen tonight. They would be waiting for her. Tomorrow, when they were more likely to assume she had already gone into the bog and when she had a chance to regain a bit of energy, she would make the trip there.
To know there was no more to be done tonight opened the door to the exhaustion and emotion, and suddenly she found herself in tears. Hauling herself into the cool gloom of Treibh Caillte, she found a little niche to huddle into and wrapped her arms around herself, crying softly and trying to determine what she would do tomorrow.
What would she say to Cliodna? Would she even get that far? Would Sadoma and Vonstadt be alright? She worried.. she worried terribly. There was so much she didn't have an answer for. But it was Suilebhain's advice that kept her from turning back - if your heart gives you path, then follow it.
Maybe it really was that simple. ..she would find out soon enough.