Moonspear by a route obscure and lonely

@Alya, only if you have time. [nuzzles]

Stretching north, west, and south of Neverwinter Forest, there was pain — it lurked, too, in the boughs of the evergreens and the empty sky that had swallowed up Allure in addition to Scimitar, Eshe, Lucy, and Rannoch. Often Cypress felt he would never be free of it, and the joy Kjalarr and Ondine shared in the birth of their son drove him deeper into a despondency so profound he felt the very air was thick with it.

The gargoyle shambled through the glen where he’d found Amari and lost Lucy. A heavy sense of regret drove his shoulders and hips into a low-slung slouch as he materialized from shadow to shadow. Amari had kept her promise, returning to the borders of Neverwinter Forest against every possible odd, but he couldn’t bring himself to face her. What would she think of him now? Everyone close to the raven prince had disappeared or been killed — even October and Kendra were missing. Slowly he had come to believe that he was cursed, and for that reason he wanted nothing to do with Kjalarr’s mate and son, let alone his cousins and aunt. Suicide was too foreign a concept for the gangly adolescent, but he’d be lying if he said he wanted to continue existing without the wolves he’d lost. He held on simply because instinct decreed it.

The wandering phantom arrived at the base of a mountain thick with wolfscent, and sulphureous eyes sparked with curiosity that was short-lived and lukewarm at best. Still, with reckless disregard he pressed forward, keeping well outside the territory borders while trying to peer deeper into the unfamiliar territory. It was the first pack he’d encountered outside his natal pack and a small, vicious voice assured him with saccharine venom that he didn’t need to feel guilty about the wolves he cursed here. He could satisfy the atavistic need for companionship without strings or attachment, and if anybody died — well, as long as he kept them at a distance, he couldn’t be held responsible and he needn’t mourn. No harm, no foul.