Blacktail Deer Plateau & she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy’s eyes

Quick cameo, this'll be my only post!

Sanguinus has been Aurëwen's guard, supposedly, but Dragomir had seen almost nothing of the man until now, when she chose to leave her cubs with him. For most of their journey across the mountains Dragomir had been quieter than normal, grieving the loss of his home and his packmates; not sullen, necessarily, but mournful. The anger of that first day had faded, leaving low embers in its wake. But his voice rose in a loud protest alongside Isi's when Aurë meant to leave them. She had never left them with a stranger before and that seemed significant.

And then she did, and fear gripped him. Fear because if she had found someone to watch them, then surely she didn't mean to return. Fear that came from watching his own father walk out of his life not once, but twice; the anxiety that Vercingetorix's perceived duplicity left him with flared up then and threatened to consume him. He railed against Sanguinus and Isilmë was quick to follow suit, but she had always been the fiercer of the two. Soon her shrieking protests and her snapping jaws had consumed their so-called guardian's attention completely.

In that moment, Dragomir got away. He turned and rushed into a gallop, intent on following Aurë and ensuring that she didn't leave them behind the way Vercingetorix had. He couldn't bear to feel unwanted that way; it was never her intent, of course. She cared for her babes with an intense fervor and would never leave them. She meant to protect them... but he did not see it that way. He ran and ran, forgetting in his panic that he had the means to find her if only he slowed down and used his head, and ran some more until he found a path down from the plateau and followed it.