The strength and suddenness of K'piru's reaction caught K'ile off guard, and in his own disorientation he couldn't be sure if she was pushing him back or if something else was pulling him away. As though with a rush of wind that threw him back, the brightness and heat of the desert flickered around him, and the smell of the woman he'd anchored himself too was stirred up and mixed into the smell of death and fire.
For a half a second, K'ile was lost in a maelstrom of senses that confused and stung every bit as much as the sandstorms of the Sagolii, but when he came out of it he still stood. One arm was stretched out, holding K'piru at the elbow, as she struggled to run away from him. His hand, paralyzed in its desperation, had not let go of her. K'ile couldn't let go of her. He'd run all this way here from Cartenau, feverish in his need to reach K'piru. And she was trying to get away from him.
His hand felt as though it had fused into a rigid fist and would never uncoil. K'piru seemed to dangle sideways against her own weight. "Please," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! They aren't..." he could feel the grief and guilt churning within him like an illness. He hadn't expected the guilt. It had waited until now. "I tried! I'm sorry! Please, don't...!" He didn't have the words for this. He didn't know the language for this.
For a half a second, K'ile was lost in a maelstrom of senses that confused and stung every bit as much as the sandstorms of the Sagolii, but when he came out of it he still stood. One arm was stretched out, holding K'piru at the elbow, as she struggled to run away from him. His hand, paralyzed in its desperation, had not let go of her. K'ile couldn't let go of her. He'd run all this way here from Cartenau, feverish in his need to reach K'piru. And she was trying to get away from him.
His hand felt as though it had fused into a rigid fist and would never uncoil. K'piru seemed to dangle sideways against her own weight. "Please," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! They aren't..." he could feel the grief and guilt churning within him like an illness. He hadn't expected the guilt. It had waited until now. "I tried! I'm sorry! Please, don't...!" He didn't have the words for this. He didn't know the language for this.
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