Big Salmon Lake i imagine death so much, it feels more like a memory

”oh?” merrick purled. ”you weren’t even around when i took your son.” tongue rose to caress his teeth. ”i’ve not heard of caiaphas. my mother was a woman named indra.”
he gazed almost affectionately at the seething Hunter, for soon they would clash, he knew; the blight of merrick was far too insidious to be long resisted.
”she met a bad end, my mother,” the yearling went on, ever casual even in the face of jaws that might savage his head from his very body if the hotblood was given his chance. ”didn’t even fight. imagine that.”
merrick’s eyes burned across the risen waters toward the man; he blinked once, gently. ”when i had him, he didn’t cry for you, not once,” ghosted his murmur. ”only his mother. where were you, dad?”
tadec tadec tadec
where did you go
silence in the waiting.