Emberwood someone say a hail mary for this house

As they trekked forward into the ruined wood, Mordecai's attention was pulled briefly as Shikoba joined him. His solitary gaze returned to the path ahead of them, though he did not entirely process the devastation that was there. In what had been a matter of days the world had lost its flourish and with that he found little reason to sift through what was around them. So long as the cougar did not descend down upon them, he thought this menace to be a fleeting thing, and therefore best he focused on getting them up and out of the valley altogether.

Harlyn's voice brought his motions to a stop. Though they had hardly taken a grueling pace, he had tried to push them further that particular day than the others. It seemed a necessary evil, but so was the necessity to bring their travels to a halt. As Harlyn joined him, he borrowed time to spare to look over their children and felt an uncomfortable prickle of concern pierce through his stoicism. It wasn't fair to them, no, but life had never been much of a fair thing; it pained him to think how this event would linger on their minds.

But it would pass, much in the way that Harlyn moved beyond their little band. He turned to follow her solemnly. He came to a halt as she did, pulling himself alongside her quietly. Though he couldn't entirely have guessed what it was that she had needed to bring to light with him, he did not anticipate it being of the good variety. Not much had been since their departure from the Hollow, as the subsequent arrival of the locusts had squashed any notion of hope he had wanted to bring to their travel.