Bearclaw Valley behind your silence and your suffering

before dawn he rose and ate, hunting through the lightening forest for the altar of bones. perhaps here were the priests. merrick had a general idea of those best suited for the role — his queen, her pale counterpart, gentle ico, and the witch.
among the offerings the boy placed a flat bit of tooth ground from the edge of a bear's jaw. he squinted at the eerie silence of the place, but arranged himself in repose and attempted to scrutinize the meaning of what had been laid here before.