Rite of Kinsmen, Part 1

Note: Edited 13/09/23

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Liara looked from me to Lorias and then back to me, her expression wilting from hope to despair after she saw me nod my head in answer to her dad's question. 

"No, I won't leave him." The she-elf pulled her hand away from me, switching my rough fingers for the supple leather hilt of her spell saber. "I would rather fight them." 

I sighed. 

Knowing Liara was going to feel this way and hearing her say it out loud were two different types of headaches, with the latter being the worst-case scenario. 

"We can take them," she insisted. 

I shook my head. "We really can't."

Circe alone, maybe. Circe with Fenrisúlfr's shadow to back her up—that sounded a lot like a suicide mission. 

Liara turned an angry look my way. "I've never known you to sound so cowardly." 

Oof, that stung especially since it came from the she-elf's lips.