Kildeer Rest cigarette daydreams

It had been a week of restless, aimless wandering, but it was time to come home. The clarity he had sought upon leaving the Sanctuary had not come. Everything was just as muddled as it was before. Now, it was tinged with the guilt that he had left--for a week--without word.

God, Alarian. He must be sick with worry, if he hadn't set out to find him already. His breath hitched in his throat; he hadn't meant to alarm the boy. Truthfully, he had wanted to return sooner, but being alone. . . It felt so good. No obligations, no bad feelings, just Zamael and his thoughts, and whatever odd stranger he happened across. But that selfishness came at a price.

He could see the Bracken Woods up ahead, a dark mass in the distance. He swallowed thickly as he realized that he might have to go find Alarian, if his brother had engaged in a search mission for him. He'd fucked up, really. This was his fuck-up. He'd have to explain it to Delight, Eris, Lily, Korei--they would all hate him for this. Alarian had been through so much already: he didn't need this on top of the shit pile.

Heart heavy as a stone, Zamael forged on, terror mounting within him as he considered each and every possibility of what was waiting for him back at Broken Boulder.

@Alarian