Ankyra Sound There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon

Some dam that was holding back his trauma broke when he shouted and he was reduced to a snivelling, broken little boy. Raleska could do anything she wished and he would be powerless to stop her. How fortunate for him that she was too stunned by his outburst to take advantage of it. All the strength leaked out of him, bringing him to his proverbial knees as he sat heavily in the grotto's shadows and cried.

Raleska would've been smart to run, but Ephraim was helpless to stop her now. The most he could do was weakly protest her passing; she would have no trouble shrugging past him to see what he'd wrought, if that was her wish. He knew it, too, so his response came in the form of a hoarse croak, a pleading sound: She was sick, she was dying, I didn't mean...

But he did mean to. He meant to with every fibre of his being... but Raleska would likely assume he did it for vengeance, when in reality, it was a son's lingering love for the memory of his mother, whatever bad stemmed between them before.