Blackfeather Woods Hocus Pocus

Despite his impassible desire to know what Mother had told Potema, Damien could not force his sister to speak in such conditions. She was visibly beaten and disoriented, obviously an after-effect of the ritual, and like everyone else Damien felt some concern within him. Had all of it been for nothing? Had he lost that connection to Meldresi forever? Those questions were perhaps only his, but still they reached his core, beat down his hope and left him feeling naked. What was he without Meldresi?

Damien could feel the air escape his chest, his knees get frail and the world become heavy. He sat back before losing balance, taking one step back from his sister and Kove. Blank eyes stared at the temple, now devoid of usefulness to him. "Kove-" he stuttered, unable to really focus on the moment, "You take care of her, I... I need to find Cicero," he lied, seeing his brother's escape as an excuse to leave the scene himself. That was when he raised, dangerously unsteady, and walked off silently, not even making an effort to follow Cicero's path. He'd gone nowhere, to the dark, to his own world, and for days he did not come back.