Big Salmon Lake gwaed

vaguey vague about injuries, yadda yadda. set for 10/23. @Hydra

By some stroke of luck, he has survived, but his life comes at a cost--the enormous, heavy yoke of guilt around his neck.

It weighs him down, step by step; he cannot keep his mind off all that had gone wrong. Ceara, still missing. Tegan--alive? Dead? He does not know. Blackfeather is still extant, and he is still only halfway home. His wounds have healed poorly, crusting over only to break open again, and one or two of them show the beginning signs of infection. He is drained, physically and spiritually.

The golden prince sags to a halt by the lake and thrusts his muzzle thirstily down to the water, drinking and drinking. It keeps his mind off everything else for a little while, so he takes solace in the coolness of the water against his ragged throat. Once the drinking has stopped, though, reality closes in on him again like cave walls.

Llewellyn reclines back on his haunches, icy droplets streaming through the thick hair at his neck. He is bloody and battered, and his eyes see things that are not there.

He is a gilded statue on the shore. As still as marble, and just as cold.