Bearclaw Valley does my name sting your tongue now does it babe

There was no response.

Grayday stood in the darkness for several long moments, wondering if he'd somehow been mistaking, but knowing that he had not. Adeline was here, and she must have heard him. He knew it deep in his aching bones. The girl was simply not answering him.

That was okay. He understood her reticence, and began to wonder himself if he ought to be there at all. But he loved this girl; she'd been everything to him once, and even now, she was something between Madonna and his very own child. In his dreams, she was an angel. She was young, she was grown, she was dead, she was still yet to be born. The male could not help but feel that his love for her transcended all things. Something Aditya had said to him returned - perhaps we've lived and loved together many times before​.

It was a comforting thought. Their paths had separated in this life, but maybe next time, they'd be kinder.

Lifting his head, Grayday gave another howl, this one longer and more varied than the first. Sorrow and longing. Hope. Love.

Adeline. Adeline. Adeline.

And then the sound faded out, and Grayday took a deep breath before turning and beginning a slow march back to Easthollow's borders.