Dragoncrest Cliffs viciously and fatally attacked by an unknown animal at Claire's

At the vague discription, Easy let out a soft sigh. By Mallaidh's tone, she surmised that the woman was no longer around, and Easy wasn't quite brave enough to ask if she'd gone the same way as Easy's mother or Easy's father - it just didn't seem polite. Besides, what really mattered to her was that they were the same in this small way.

The dark woman let out an irritable curse as the rain began to come down harder, and she motioned for Mallaidh to accompany her into the deeper, more covered areas of the forest.

"My dad and I had a song together - but he died before we could finish it," she told the other, looking up at the broad boughs of the redwoods and receiving a drop of conifer-scented water on the tip of her nose for her toruble. "Maybe you could sing me your song one day," she suggested. "Daddy used to say - well, it's not all that relevant. But he'd say a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved. And I don't know... I feel better."