“But...”
he begins to say.
“No
'buts',” she snaps harshly, “There will be no Authority here, no
genocide for European rats. Your instructions are clear. Get on
with it.”
As
she finishes speaking, the light around her begins to sparkle with
the same hues as her dress. The air swirls, lights brighten, until
her features are lost in a blinding white. Seconds later a deafening
'POP!' fills the air and she's gone: white light, sparkles and
all.
He
drops to his knees, deflated and lost, faced with a task he knows to
be wrong. He takes a deep breath, holds it in, releasing the air in
a resigned sigh as a steely determination takes over. Climbing to
his feet he kicks over the mound of earth, stamping on the twigs to
extinguish the flames.
“I'm
sorry,” he says to the empty clearing around him, “The Forest has
nothing for me now.”
