thoth
we spend all our time running for our lives, going nowhere

The forest dripped red. The curtain of crimson fell over the scene as time seemed to stop momentarily, like someone had pressed pause. Stilled outlaws twisted in mid-air as they dove for cover. Frozen arrows pepped the air. Motionless guards held their swords aloft as though trying to slice the sky open.

And Toby – Toby’s head hovered an inch from the ground, his face still contorted into an image of uncharacteristic aggression. Thoth blinked. Toby’s head hit the ground and the battle resumed around them, as though no one cared that the kindest dog in the world had just departed it.

He barely heard Tristan as storm clouds gathered overheard, clapping out the light of the yawning stars just beginning to raise their heads. Thunder rolled ominously through the camp. A few drops of rain began to patter timidly onto Thoth’s shoulders, but he didn’t need it. He could make his own rain and drown the lot of them.

The water came from everywhere: up from the ground, down from the clouds, out from the trees, some even generated from nothing. The earth cracked and dried out underfoot and the leaves on the nearest trees withered and died, cascading to the floor like an amber waterfall. His eyes locked onto the guard who had taken Toby’s life, Thoth threw his tidal wave at her with full force, following up with a clatter of lightning. The other campers knew him well enough to get the hell out of the way sharpish, but the other guards weren’t so lucky. A dozen or so blue uniformed men and women were swept up in the tsunami, crashing against trees or each other, Toby’s killer among them. The lightning zapped the ground harmlessly; Thoth’s aim with electricity had never been great even when he was in control of his emotions.

A dozen down, but dozens more lined up and marching forward. Thoth twisted his fists, letting his rage sink into the water. The guards on the front line yelped and hopped as the liquid lapping at their ankles began to bubble and steam.