[ gravity does the work of jostling her into the metallic embrace of the wall, momentum tilting her balance. the bone of her hip connects once more with an iron clang, but she refuses to give him any satisfaction beyond the sharp and pained suction of air between her teeth before she can bite it down. countless centuries he's survived, honed his craft and bided his time — but what disturbs her most is how obnoxiously human it is for him to behave like a cruel, bullying child.

thankfully, she's had her fair share of experience in enduring those. he won't be the one to break her as he had tried, remolded into his weapon. small fingers grope at the strange piping etched into the wall, relieved for the chasm of distance between herself and kirigan — even as a fist clamps around her lungs and squeezes at the sharpened point of her title spearing between her ribs. sun summoner. saints, what a fool she had been to believe she had been so valued, so wanted, when she's never been anything to him but a vessel for his own ambitions. just a girl conveniently containing the power he had sought for so long.

that fury — at his manipulation, at her own foolishness — twines together, dual flames that burn brighter. it heats her into imperious defiance when she bites out, ]

That's hardly a threat. I would take a thousand falls over letting you lead me through the dark.

[ he's done far worse to her than leave her with what will inevitably be a nasty bruise. there's a sound of fabric shifting and the sound of her tentative footfalls as she slides along the wall, unwilling to wait for him — and endlessly frustrated by her inability to get away from him quickly when she can scarcely tell left from right.

there may be no light in this hallway to draw to her fingertips and light the way ahead, but — he can't be faring any better, if he's going around grabbing at strangers. unseen, her lip curls into a purse, a stab of spiteful satisfaction tearing through her. ]

What's wrong? Can't find your way out of it on your own?