Larksong Grotto prüfung

astraeus responded with a brash enthusiasm the gargoyle had not yet seen in the boy. enlivened by it, mahler offered a bold laugh. "vell then ve vill have to catch you something vith a hoof, yes." he led the star-child along the path he had found, loping in that careful trot that led them between thickening spruce into the underbelly of old boreal canopies.
here mahler sniffed at a white patch of lichen, indicating to the little hunter where the goat had left a tuft of tangled pale fur. onward and onward, until their byway cut directly up into the sharper cliffs. mahler pondered a moment, wondering if the boy was old enough to bring so high.
ultimately he did not wish to be astraeus' undoing, and so continued at a gentler incline, seeking a safer footing up the beginning slopes. "maybe, if ve are lucky, ve vill get to see a dragon."