by Miriam Bell » Wed Dec 14, 2016 3:32 pm
Miriam's almost cheerful attitude of needling Sam has disappeared entirely at this point, replaced by an ice-cold mask that slides over her face.
"You killed my friend." she says. It's barely even a question, really. Unlike Sam, her own mind doesn't explode out as metaphorically nor does it try to latch on to any and all she can reach like she did so many years ago. Since then the pain of losing someone has crystallized and become focused. A single silvery knife flashing amongst the swirling shadows that make up her avatar. But she's torn, not certain what to do. This is what she's pushed Sam towards. And Will, as much as it pains her to admit, was closer to Sam than herself. As much as Sam annoys her sometimes, this is her fight, her punishment to mete out if she can. If.
The cloud of shadows upon which the two strange masks bob and weave snakes it's way through the swarm of birds, against Roland's defenses, to try and find that weakspot, the vulnerability that everyone has somewhere. The source of the shield he is projecting. Self-righteousness and determination, the conviction he's doing the right thing. Bits and pieces of the shield that are chipped away float through Miriam's head. He has a Cause, one with capital letters and everything. Little by little she uses the mental resistance to gauge what's underneath, like feeling for the shape of something underneath a taut blanket. The fact that it's made of stone only matters if you let that fact convince you that it does. Even the smallest give reveals something and it's only a matter of figuring out the shape of the thoughts underneath to mimic them and glide right through as if she'd been part of his mind all along.
"Sam!" a thought pierces through the birds to get her attention. She has no time to teach this trick to Sam in the middle of all this. Two steps and one punch from Roland can end this at any time and only Sam's onslaught is keeping that from happening, it seems. "I can get you through but you'll have to trust me."