Scathach fell to her knees, her eyes brimming with tears and her breath coming in gasps, looking at Strax as if she were seeing a stranger. The spear was no longer in her hands, the runes had dissipated, and what remained... was just a mother lost in time.
"I... just wanted to protect you... my little warrior," she murmured in a drawn-out voice, her throat tight with tears.
Strax stood before her, steady, even with the remnants of battle pulsing beneath his skin. He could see the collapse in her eyes, the contradiction between the unstoppable warrior and the mother who had lost everything... including time.
"Protect?" he repeated, with cutting calm. "You almost killed one of the women I love. You turned my garden into a battlefield. You destroyed everything around you because of... jealousy."
Scathach frowned, as if the word had hit her like a slap. "It's not jealousy! It's care! It's love! You're... you're my baby!"
