Aeotha didn't know what to do. It was like it was happening in slow motion but she was rooted to the stop. Skandra grabbing Shantar, having a knife in his had. She had seen him do a great many things, but never ever reach to harm his grandfather in such a way. At the same time, Aeotha had never seen Shantar say, or do anything, that was much more that a certain madness that she couldn't understand but somehow found it in her to respect his intelligence. He was intelligent. As was Skandra. He didn't need to be a genius, like they seemed to think they were, but Skandra was intelligent. He could do things, and think of things, that Aeotha could neither consider nor fathom. Things that did not cross her mind. But here she was.
Aeotha could almost see the monster beneath the vivid blue of his eyes. The blackness which hovered deep, but shined like obsidian in the firelight. Aeotha was trying to cover the ground between them, trying to take her staff from her back, but it was too difficult to operate, or maybe she really didn't see the harm in hurting the old man for knowing without knowing what was here. What was for them. And how easily he could stand the presence of the real monster. Gershul Tyullis was a monster, and Shantar was willing to allow him to do what he would do because it was his son.
Skandra was willing to kill his father.
If her father was a monster could she kill him? The memory flashed before her eyes. Of her father twisted and broken in the desert. She'd never seen him like that but the thought of it was enough to wake her up. Aeotha threw her arms around Skandra's arms from behind, she couldn't hold him like this for long, the damage was already done, but Aeotha held on.
"Skandra. Skandra please. Stop." She was whispering, but she wanted to yell.
"You're not like your father. At all. Shantar's crazy. Gershul will.. there's a balance to the world. For everything he's done he'll suffer. But it doesn't have to be your hand. We could just leave and shut him behind us, right? We have to be able to."
She didn't want to see Skandra kill his father. She didn't know what that would do to him if he did. Even if Gershul was horrible, which he was, he was still.. She still felt..