Nova Peak birnen

a million apologies smh

elke's voice tugged upon him first, and mahler lifted his head up with a slow blink. a cascade of bogmud, and only narrowly did he see first his snowbloom and then her — sister, no, for his promise hovered to tongue — elke.
and so it was only a short trajectory he made it, phaedra's molotov sluicing to wet brown clumps of muck that clung to the high curve of his shoulder and the edge of his jaw. a loud laugh, and then a nod to the question, delayed as he paused to shake out his ruff. "who else could it be?" and his eyes shone to see them all so close. he turned to phaedra with a warm mumur of "good vork, fooling my ears." and for a moment mahler saw her bounding and puppish and full of the round syllables that had once created more work for her words. was it so now? another blink, and he nosed toward a nearby toad, sending it flailing indignantly into the mud.
but where was ciri?
marble now, no sign of her pudged brother. mahler had seen star's reticence, wondered if it had to do with the boy. astraeus too, did not arrive. "hello, stone-gatherer," he chuffed loudly to the littlest among them, amused at her reluctance to come too close. nyx next, goldenpawed and with ciri in tow, ciri, wearing the same shadow upon her face that phaedra had worn before —
"there are so many of these frogs," the gargoyle chose to say, addressing the small group of kinder. "but see that big vone there?" he gestured with a lift of his muddied limb toward a great fat thing sat amid all the others, still where they hopped, its calculating black gaze fixed upon each wolf in turn. "he is their king."
"vhat should ve say to a frog king?"