Larksong Grotto wicked beasts and idle bellies

she was stopped by the sound of another, and in her tired state she nearly didn't see him, didn't recognize the dark shape of reek as he approached. but as her short fur began to prickle, as she turned to regard him, she saw him and understood. this was no time to be defensive, this was her ally.

reek, she mumbled, hardly the self-posessed creature he had initially discovered among the maple trees. i did not mean to be away for so long, but He called, and i was taken far from you. her voice crackled, perhaps with uncertaintly, perhaps because she had not spoken to anyone in her journey from the blackwoods to this stone palace.