The Flower Shower
The moment Rias's horse crossed into the yard -
The ground trembled.
It did not strike hard. Nowhere near strong enough to knock anyone down or crack the ground. But there it was. Something off, pressing up through boot leather and horse shoes alike. From below, a low tremor rose - sliding past cobblestones, slipping into limbs, humming inside ribs where silence should have been.
A single stamp cracked the silence, the horse blowing air through its nose - tense. Other animals shifted close by, heads jerking at the sound of metal rings sliding along leather straps while hands clamped down above them.
A noise arrived next.
A hush fell first, then came the noise - deep, rolling through Nagarath as if something huge had settled into the ground. Not sudden. Not breaking the air. Just there, heavy, filling spaces long after it ought to have disappeared. The world held its breath beneath a pulse that refused to let go.
Heads jerked up all at once.
