Bearclaw Valley deep in earth

his girl struck true, and merrick saw the question in her eyes. he grinned wickedly, torn muzzle reaching delicately to nip another slight limb into his own jaws. 
i'll hold you punch — derelict daddy-daughter time in the shifting earth and the downpour. the creature struggled, but the madman was still, watching avicus with an encouraging expression skimming the surface of his single lantern-orb.
indra
but she was also him
something merrick had drawn from the stiffened corpse of his mother and given new life. but not him at all; it was the passions of the motherbird which had crafted avicus, had they not? merrick knew nothing of these things, only that the girl and her brother intrigued him beyond all measure.