Sawtooth Spire unglücksfall

mahler smiled at her then, continuing their trek, but was otherwise silent as he thought upon what gracious had pulled from his head. he knew the names of many demons that might lay between he and his happiness. thade; the pall of his own failure was cloying, for it had lost him his young son, phaedra's trust, and wylla's love. 
there was also nyx, for whom he felt a sweet affection, but he had locked away parts of himself even from her; nyx, who had never treated him cruelly, nor had a harsh word. she had given him beautiful daughters, and mahler had given her nothing. 
barbed by his own silent contemplations, the gargoyle was grateful for the distraction of something else along the river. hackles flared at the sight of a young bear, leggy and mistrustful of the approaching wolves. on a halt, mahler lifted his lip, warning the overgrown cub in a quiet show of possession over the mountain.
he was rewarded with the lumbering step of the fleeing beast. too large to still be with its mother, mahler neverthless turned away from the river, heading into the pinewood beyond. "life is full of consistent and painful introspection. it is the vay things must be, though it is painful. and i understand vhy many refuse to do it."