Sintas. And Broll?
Fandral sighed. I suppose I should have expected it. But how could he have expected such… such… betrayal? He knew he had never been much more to Sintas than her superior, but it was betrayal. He had told her what she was to him. And she had refused him. After all he had done for her! She was ungrateful. He never expected her to show him such insolence, but she had done just that. Insolence. He was sick of it.
He wondered what she was doing. What she was thinking. Probably nothing concerning him, of course. Probably…
An image flickered through his mind. His face set into an enraged scowl…
The emissary shrank back slightly. “…Ah. Archdruid, my apologies.”
Fandral waved his hand, snorting. “Bah. Continue, my mind was elsewhere. Repeat what you were saying.”
The emissary backtracked on his list, nodding. Fandral, however, could care less. His gaze flickered to his door. The glass was shadowed by someone. He had no appointments after the emissary… Oh, goodie, I get to play the guessing game, he thought with a smirk. Who will it be? Will I enjoy their company? Of course not. Feh, it’s always a waste of time.
The emissary stood up, bowing slightly to Fandral. “Thank you for your time, Archdruid. I trust you will take these requests into your consideration.”
Fandral nodded. “Of course. Let my next guest in.” He watched the door, interested for once to see who came through.
Broll stepped in. Fandral sprang from his seat, growling. Broll’s expression switched quickly from casual greeting to startled surprise.
“Er… Fandral?”
“This had better be a valuable use of my time, Broll, for I am none too pleased with your arrogant presence!”
Broll blinked a few times. “…I assure you, it is.” He shook off his initial surprise. “It concerns Sintas. She fell ill today, and will not be at the meeting. She has asked me to request going in her stead.”
“She would, wouldn’t she?” Fandral snapped. As Broll raised a brow, Fandral growled. “You believe me to be unaware? Hardly. I know very well about you two.”
Broll raised his hands. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Fandral’s golden eyes flared brighter. “I saw you two. You had been spying on us, hadn’t you? Waiting for your opportunity to descend and take her back!” He threw a swipe of his hand, crackling with energy, at Broll. Broll stepped back quickly, avoiding it.
“Fandral, you misunderstand—“
“I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY!” Fandral loosed the energy at Broll, missing him barely. The energy flew out the open door, dissipating into the air. Broll stared at him. This wasn’t what he had come for. A fight with the Archdruid? The angry Archdruid? No.
“Fandral. Just stop for a moment, let me explain.”
Fandral growled, seething.
“I don’t know what it is you think is going on, but really! I’m not interested in her, honestly!” Broll felt as though he were staring down an angry bear… And not a bear he could communicate sense or calm into. Though he could turn into one, of course… “Look, I did convince her to let me go in her stead, but not for such a reason! I’m trying to protect her!”
“Protect her? Bah, from what?!”
Broll growled. “From you, of course! She told me what happened, Fandral. You embarrassed her. If she agrees with any point you make at that meeting, she’ll be seen as simply favoring you because of those damn rumors!”
Fandral glared. “And what do you get out of this?”
“I gain the satisfaction of helping a fellow druid from a difficult situation.”
Sintas jumped, startled by the roar that sliced through the air. She looked around quickly, springing off her bed and onto the floor. Her feet landed on papers, the rest of her following in the fall as the papers slipped across the floor. She let out a yelp, landing on her backside. For a moment, she simply laid there, frowning to herself. Terribly skittish. Ugh. She brushed aside the papers with her feet, standing up on the cleared area of floor. That roar… It had sounded from the enclave… She frowned. Should I even bother? Shaking her head, she sighed. If the Archdruid happened to be in some sort of danger, she wouldn’t forgive herself for failing to at least see what happened. She slipped on her sandals, looking down at herself. Still in her nightgown, having had no reason to leave her house this day. But wasn’t—
Broll. Wasn’t he supposed to meet with Fandral today?
Oh dear.
She grabbed a slip-on dress, secured a belt around her waist, and leapt onto the railing around her house, transforming into the storm crow.
This is bad, Broll thought. He ducked another swipe at his head. I just had to think about it. And now it’s happened. He really is an angry bear. The huge, dark green bear roared, standing on his hind legs to bring a paw down on Broll’s head. Broll shifted to the form of a cat, narrowly dodging what would have been a crushing blow to his skull. He tried leaping for the open door, nearly reaching it before a paw the size and weight of a mace swung out and caught him in the face. Broll tried shaking it off, but the blow had been too hard. His nose was broken, at best. I can’t keep this up… Damnit, Fandral, get a hold of yourself! He still couldn’t fathom why Fandral was so angry. Sintas had turned him down. What did Broll have to do with it? Unless…
The bear’s head slammed into Broll’s side, interrupting his train of thought. This wasn’t about to end easily. Broll was known for his prowess in feral combat, but this was too much. He might as well have been back in the arena, tossed around by an ogre. But at least in the arena, there was the reasonability of fighting back. Directly attacking the Archdruid would not be advisable, to say the least. Think, Broll… Think! His rage is comparable to yours at this point!
The chamber’s floor came to life, sprouting branches and trunks that encased the raging bear. The bear tried smacking them aside, then looked to the door. There stood Sintas, eyes set on Fandral with a look of utmost pity. Fandral watched her, his lip curled back, quivering. A low, dangerous growl still escaped his throat. Sintas stepped quietly to the cage of branches, reaching a hand out to him. Powerful jaws locked down on her hand, crunching bones and tearing ligaments. Sintas closed her eyes, wincing.
Broll watched. His nose sent him waves of pain, but his eyes were wide. She’s absolutely crazy. She should know better than to get so close to him when he’s this angry! He started to leap towards her as she lowered her head to Fandral’s. “SINTAS, STOP!”
Fandral made no move to attack her head, however. Sintas set her free hand on his head, stroking his fur gently. “Fandral,” she whispered, “let your spirit be calm… Let your mind be at ease, dear friend.”
The bear remained still for a long moment, eventually releasing his vice grip on her hand. She flexed her hand, letting out a pained grunt. The hand became enveloped in green light, sealing shut the horrid bite wounds and returning the lost blood, still clinging hopefully to her skin, to her flesh.
Broll landed short of the two, watching in amazement as the grievous wound faded into nothingness, as though it had never even happened. I had heard she was a powerful healer, but… A wound that fresh, and that mangled… Her hand looks fine… Surely the bones haven’t been repaired as well, have they?
Sintas opened her eyes, looking at Fandral. His bear form was large, larger than even a tauren’s transformation. He stood on all fours, and yet was still nearly at eye level with her.
The taste of hot iron still flooded Fandral’s mouth. Why had he done that… He was angry at Broll, not her… Wasn’t he? He sensed some sort of spell had been cast on him, calming his rage, but it hardly mattered. She was here, stroking his fur, accompanying him. With him yet again. He closed his eyes. He felt her breath against his ear, listened to her whisper a quiet plea. He nodded, letting out a sigh.
Sintas stepped over to Broll, kneeling down and setting her hand on his nose. A green glow called the bone back into its proper place, mending the cracks and bleeding within. She gave him a light scratch behind his ears, turning back to the cage of branches. A wave of her hand signaled the branches to recede, withdrawing back into the floor. Fandral shook himself off, shifting out of the bear’s shape and into that of the storm crow. Sintas looked to Broll.
“I’ll attend the meeting tomorrow. Place my notes back in my house, if you please.”
With that, she stepped out the door, becoming feathered and winged as well, lifting off of the walkway. Fandral followed suit, up into the air to circle once before setting off for the east.
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