by Hopeflower » Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:21 pm
Stryker nodded shortly. "Not just yet though. Knowing Slade, he' may still be around, waiting for me to make the first move. Give me a moment." She closed her eyes, concentrating, the Elemental marking around the left one glowing briefly as she cast her focus outside her home. She could sense the fire that burned at Randy and Ira's cores, and the darkness that pulsed in Nabonidus'. Even her own fire, a heat located in the middle of her chest, reassuring in its warmth and strength. But beyond them, dulled slightly with the distance he'd put between himself and her house, but still stronger than her own power, she could sense Slade. Dimly she was aware of sweat trickling down the back of her neck, and a tense, aching pain in her shoulder and neck muscles. She felt drained from the effort of sustaining the search for even this short amount of time and couple hear her breath beginning to come in short bursts. With a sigh that was more like a tense hiss, she opened her eyes and craned her neck from side to side. "He's still in the village," she said. "But not close enough to catch you if you run now." She stood, staggered once, and righted herself with grim determination. Ivy blinked up at her, green eyes wide and somber, almost childlike. "What do you mean, "if we run"?" she asked in a quiet, shaky voice. "Aren't you coming with us?" Stryker blinked slowly, once. "I need to stay here, for a little while longer," the older woman replied. "I will hold Slade off, buy you as much time as I can, and follow you as soon as possible." "But - but he might kill you!" the teen protested, sitting up too quickly and wincing as the headrush that followed ignited the mother of all headaches. Stryker reached out and hugged her student tightly, murmuring, "That's a risk...I am willing to take. You're safe with Randy and Nabonidus. Stay with them if...if the worst happens."
"Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come."
"Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything that you're willing to practice, you can do." ~ Bob Ross
"The future is always uncertain and painful but it must be lived." ~ Unknown