When first Nephilim saw Vita Nova in place of Oswin at the crest of the hill he wondered if he was dreaming again. His heartbeat picked up, pulse jumping. His legs shifted as the energy building inside him needed somewhere to go, thus making him act out in small, agitated mannerisms (a toss of his head, a snort, a pawing in the dirt and a flick or two of his tail). Any moment now the world would drip away as if it were snow melting in the strength of the late spring sun and everything would plunge to darkness and chaos. Which Vita Nova was he seeing now? Which nightmare had come to torment him today? He couldn’t even remember falling asleep but he must have, because Vita Nova couldn’t be here.
The closer she came the stiller he grew. His muscles bunched beneath his coat and he leaned away from her as if prepared to bolt. His one gold eye rolled, showing white. Any moment now the world would erupt into chaos… Nephilim needed to be as prepared as he possibly could be the moment it did.
Oswin had better things to do. So I’m here.
Oswin… had… better things? Vita Nova was… here? The tenseness bundled up beneath his scar-riddled, gold-flecked body melted but the heavy beating of his heart did not subside. No… no this was all wrong. Nephilim barely registered what she said next concerning his niece – Oswin’s daughter – his mind jumping over every decision which had brought Vita Nova here. How dare Oswin. The whole story had been spilled to her, along with everything else concerning his life, and he’d already raged at her for bringing Dances to him… and now she betrayed him a second time? Worse, still… this was Vita Nova… she was never meant to see him again after their last parting, but even more he didn’t want her to see him like this.
“Go away Nova,” He said, but his voice lacked the rage it had held when Oswin had led Dances here. “Oswin has better things to do and so do you.” His tail flicked and his ear turned back, eye narrowing on her averted gaze. Pain told him to look away – to not see how she could not bear to watch him – but his endless need to punish himself into a miserable existence made him watch her. He needed to soak in every moment she couldn’t bear to look at the grotesque thing he now was, for it was the ammunition he needed to remind himself not to be fooled.
“She had no reason bringing you into this.” His voice took on a harder tone. Angrier. He could be angry at Oswin. “I told her specifically not to.”
Nephilim tossed his head in agitation and his tail flicked at either side over his haunches, snapping fast and betraying the anger already glowing in his good eye. “Go back to the islands and forget you ever saw me here.”
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