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Feb. 14th, 2024 10:49 pmFrom how far back was his one question and Ned stood by it, it wasn't a bad question, not at all, not with Keel-who-wasn't-Keel looking at him like some creature from the Dark Days and all hell about to break loose in front of them. Didn't get answer though, so Ned just nodded and pulled his helmet down more firmly.
"Now let's show Snapcase where the line's drawn, shall we? Let's finish it-"
They charged. Ned lost sight of Keel almost immediately but he tried to keep sight of the others, tried to keep his head above water. It wasn't a battle or a war or even a skirmish...what it was was a rout and a bloody shame, and Ned couldn't help but remember what he'd said to Keel-who-wasn't-Keel about the men who shouldn't have been there, who SHOULD NOT have been there, but they were, they all were, and the purple was in the corners of his eyes like sparks.
And he lost sight.
When a Watchman ran at him, Ned didn't see any purple and he cut him down without stopping. He felt blood hot and foul on his skin and saw again the look on Carcer's face when he'd asked if Ned was just along for the ride? No, he wasn't. This wasn't like any ride that he'd ever been on, not now. What this was was a run-away, and they were all going to die in a pile of splinter and spark.
And it only occurred to him after the man had gone down how easy it would be for a small thing (a sprig of lilac, say) to slip in the crush and get lost under all of the boots, trampled by running and be gone, just like that. It occured to him, and then Ned put that entirely from his mind because you couldn't think like that. Ned Coates was dangerous because he could be that rational. Ned Coates was dangerous because he believed.
Something made him look up, tall enough to see above the heads to where Keel had Carcer by the throat. The world vibrated like it had before and a body fell but it wasn't the body and, anyway, it was only one, and Ned had this brief, fleeting glimpse of a much older Ankh Morpork, the river cleaner but the city darker and everything, but everything, was drenched in blood.
And then he saw the blade.
"Now let's show Snapcase where the line's drawn, shall we? Let's finish it-"
They charged. Ned lost sight of Keel almost immediately but he tried to keep sight of the others, tried to keep his head above water. It wasn't a battle or a war or even a skirmish...what it was was a rout and a bloody shame, and Ned couldn't help but remember what he'd said to Keel-who-wasn't-Keel about the men who shouldn't have been there, who SHOULD NOT have been there, but they were, they all were, and the purple was in the corners of his eyes like sparks.
And he lost sight.
When a Watchman ran at him, Ned didn't see any purple and he cut him down without stopping. He felt blood hot and foul on his skin and saw again the look on Carcer's face when he'd asked if Ned was just along for the ride? No, he wasn't. This wasn't like any ride that he'd ever been on, not now. What this was was a run-away, and they were all going to die in a pile of splinter and spark.
And it only occurred to him after the man had gone down how easy it would be for a small thing (a sprig of lilac, say) to slip in the crush and get lost under all of the boots, trampled by running and be gone, just like that. It occured to him, and then Ned put that entirely from his mind because you couldn't think like that. Ned Coates was dangerous because he could be that rational. Ned Coates was dangerous because he believed.
Something made him look up, tall enough to see above the heads to where Keel had Carcer by the throat. The world vibrated like it had before and a body fell but it wasn't the body and, anyway, it was only one, and Ned had this brief, fleeting glimpse of a much older Ankh Morpork, the river cleaner but the city darker and everything, but everything, was drenched in blood.
And then he saw the blade.
