Fever Dreaming

Valkyrie paid no mind to the various visible shifts in her disgruntled companion’s appearance, for her focus was thoroughly distracted, thoughts scattering hither and thither as the echoey contours of her pretentious mind began to fill with interesting visions and grandiose intentions, further afield. It was easy to picture herself leading a faithful following of women—Sisters—pouring forth her abundant knowledge and instilling worldliness into their yearning, sponge-like brains; of course there would be little need for persuasion at all, as it was commonly understood that men were primal creatures of limited intelligence and neanderthal habit. United—of course, piloted by she—the Rift’s new army of Shieldmaidens would severe the dominative control held over their fair, vulnerable race; those too who had been brainwashed, like Kiada, and—she sighed—silly Zoeya too. Though sleek, sensitive ears swivelled like honing satellites upon her attractively helmed poll, they barely noticed the monotonous sound of the roused wildlife through the rain, instead, flattening over the suggestion of her own whispering conscious that the Sisterhood should be founded at the foot of K’yarie’s pine-cloaked summit. In all respects, the concept seemed preposterous. To begin with, Shieldmaidens needed snow; freezing conditions to better harden their resolve. The Western Mists—as far as she was aware—was nothing more than flimsy shadow and work: time and massive effort to travel anywhere. No… she was musing quietly with an increasingly vacant expression, perhaps exploration through the north will be necessary— Until the sudden sound of the stranger’s voice startled her progress. “The Rift?” she mimicked suddenly, eyes refocusing a rather pointed, impatient glare towards the wandering gaze of the enquirer. “…no this is the Portal,” Valkyrie stated impatiently, carelessly, misunderstanding—perhaps not hearing—the simple context of the question. Her chin deviated upwards briskly, gesturing towards the queer sliver of darkness yet behind the thicker woman and one eye narrowed almost patronisingly, assuming the stranger to be a little slow on the uptake. She beamed quickly, however, exposing a fresh, forced smile. A long moment of silence ensued (at least it felt a lot like an eternity to Valkyrie), then it clicked— “Wait… you mean this whole place? Yeah it’s the Rift—welcome to hell.” A chuckle rattled her nostrils, though there was an unmistakable air of seriousness surrounding the comment.

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