I dislike playing canon characters and will always choose to play OC in fandoms.

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Flash.

Lightning.

Thunder.

Halone’s spears were hunting for him. Cadence knew this to be true, for why else would clear night skies suddenly turn black and become filled with roaring, writhing hounds if not to punish her favored son for abandoning his duty. Abandoning his calling.

But how could it have been his if another had already fulfilled it.

Over the roar of rain and thunder, the runaway dragoon could hear the braying of hunters behind them. While the Fury sought him from above, those of his former church - former cult - harried him with horses and hounds of their own. They hadn’t found him yet, but he knew it was mostly only a matter of time. The ties that still binded him, the magic inscribed into his soul which made his skin ache and scales itch demanded his return, hooked strings pulling him back into the church’s embrace.

Flashes of an embering fire on a snow-bitten night came unbidden as he settled into a bough of wet, saddened leaves. Laughter tickled his horns as spiced cider warmed his hands. Less so than the warmth in his core from the company around him, but a thing to hold onto nonetheless as cinnamon and cloves and apples coated his tongue.

‘You can be forgiven,’ a voice said. ‘You still have a role to play.’

They were bittersweet lies.

“Aurin! Where are you!” A voice called from the gloomy dark. Material this time. Physical. Real. No less of a threat than the rats which infested his mind.

The nickering of horses and the dull splatter of rained metal echoed in the dense storm.

“Aurin! You haven’t gotten drunk now have you?” The same voice, commanding, deep. A pang rang through Cadence’s chest as he recognized it. Then, quietly, off to the side, just barely audible over the thunder and noise. “Are you sure he’s here?”

“Yes, milord.” A figure wrapped in thick cloaks rode next to the armored figure leading the van. Clawed hands reached inside, pulling out an amulet that burned a menacing golden yellow. Funny how we once thought it to be so warm and bright, even as his scales tingled and his heartbeat drummed in his horns.

“Where is that blasted boy. Aurin! Whatever’s happened I’m sure we can fix it. Together.”

The small group continued walking. There were five of them in total. Aside from Jean and Isilian who lead the van, Isilian’s amulet still bright and burning in Cadence’s eyes, three guards were with them. Armed and armored in a fashion that spoke leagues over the honeyed words which spilled from Jean’s lips. It was to be expected, he supposed. Cadence had never been the greatest of actors; a pure heart emblazoned on his crest, Jean would always say. It mattered little in what he had to do.

Dravania had always been a holy land of sorts, an image of what once was and what could be again, had Cadence fulfilled his prophecy. Right now, however, it was simply a land that afforded the Au Ra simple reprieve from crackling snow. With the rain, parched trees already hung heavy with gluttonous weight, and so his passage was unnoticed as he positioned himself over the bright amulet, the burning light a beacon to the lost in a cold storm.

Cadence fell with a crack of thunder, his spear whirring to life as he twisted it into action. Jean had always been faster, however, and he kicked both his and Isilian’s horses into action, the beasts throwing themselves up in practiced panic as they bolted in opposite directions. That gave Cadence only a small window to dispatch the guards that had come with them. A task that would not prove to be easy as they were already bearing down on him, spears thrusting at him from three separate angles as they sought to quickly surround him.

Yet it was a situation that was oft thrust upon him in his training.

Instinct fueled his muscles and guided his bones as Cadence surged forward towards the closest assailant. The spearman stumbled back, not ready for the Au Ra’s sudden aggression, a mistake paid for in blood as Cadence’s heavy spear slipped underneath the man’s chin. A swift tug saw the corpse dislodged, its former owner already forgotten about as Cadence turned to face their other two foes. Already he could hear the horses galloping back, which would turn a difficult situation into an impossible one.

Cadence took in a deep breath, his tense aether mirroring its owner as he flicked his wrist, changing the tone of the subtle humming of his spear.

One count.

Two count.

Three.

An unceasing, roaring, burning fire surged from within him as a sun’s wrath coated him in golden scales. Steam hissed from his form as heat bubbled around him, the air shimmering and biting back at the rain which fell down upon the scene. Whether or not he was the Fury’s wrath made manifest, the power coursing through him was real enough, and it demanded satiation through one form or another. A deep hymn began to rise from Cadence’s chest, a steady beat to combat the monster within as he once again surged forward.

The remaining guards did their best as they landed strikes that drew blood in Cadence’s haste to finish the fight quickly. However, when a single thrust from a divine spear could melt away metal and flesh and bone alike, there was little they could do. Not that he had much time to celebrate as a blast of withering aether splashed against his back, the magical armor the only thing stopping his chest from caving in. As it stood, he’d only have some sore bruising to deal with tomorrow as Cadence turned to face the Dravanian mage.

“Traitor.”

Cadence could only nod, his hymn turning somber.

“Don’t mock me with that noise, you impure wretch!” Isilian raised the burning amulet high, a beacon for those who have lost their purpose. Ancient words unlocking ancient magicks made the beacon burn, Cadence’s blood burning with it as the Fury within him started to grow ever more hungry. The rage burned inside him, a conflagration consuming his aether in ever greater amounts in a fruitless attempt to satiate itself. It was a beast uncontrollable, a power unfathomable to wield for anyone not divinely selected for the task. A power that was going to kill him.

There was a rush, a galloping whomph as beast and flesh collided.

“Aurin! Stop, what are you doing!”

The pain hurt. It was to be expected when a warbeast weighing hundreds of ponze crashes into someone. But not as much as the look Jean gave him.

Cadence didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to believe in it.

Instead he rose to his feet, the Fury still burning within him, the amulet still burning bright above like a cruel star. Cadence’s voice rose, his hymn reaching higher and higher as he hefted his spear and let it fly into the sun.

Hashiru