Sun Mote Copse red breath

eshamun's time had come, and with it, the will of molech. arunik'ra was a presence, a shoulder -- but her mind was elsewhere. her mind was on molech.

as her sister strained beneath her hovering gaze and the river bled a sanguine rush, arunik'ra darkly tended; each pup was plucked from the riverbed and set sopping and screaming on the grass. ragna arrived and the scarlet woman offered her the thinnest of smiles, though shook her head softly -- ragna could be a witness this time -- next time, a participant. silently she set to cleaning the babes of their gris, and soothing them of their short-lived discomforts.

to a wolf not raised by the malkaria, they looked precious and full of life. the scarlet priestess was aware that this was ragna's first ceremony -- she only hoped the wolf strong enough to endure it. arunik'ra, like eshamun, knew their destiny. she would await the ekar-aji's word.