Bearclaw Valley Arms raised to the stars, begging them to listen.

as revui spoke, merrick felt himself turn to ice. the giant had always been faithful, stalwart; his teeth had ripped many a foe alongside that of the bearwitch. 
and now he found no pull to keep him here.
merrick felt he knew this mountain, though was largely uninterested in such peaks and spires. revui, however, was a wondrous creature better suited for it. anger warred with grief, melded into resignation, stippled with curiosity. "the woman?" too young yet to travel, the little grubs, too weak from her injuries, their mother.
perhaps he meant to abandon them. 
perhaps he meant them as a gift for merrick.
"can i still call upon you as an ally?" he breathed, single eye searching the rugged quiet of revui's features, so like the shaded places of the jagged, high places he wished to claim for himself.