Dragoncrest Cliffs [BWP] A Lyke Wake Dirge

val carried the songbird's spirit within his heart; he found njord's dirge was at once both beautiful and hauntingly sad. it transported him to a different world, the way songs often do -- and when in ended, he was flooded with melancholy in the manner of tide returning to the wrack line.

he solemnly examined the stripe of ruined snow. the place where hours before, his family had congregated to avenge the death of his sister. val could not say he understood why anyone would worship someone as mercurial and violent as atlan. for once, his heart simmered with an ugly emotion. "well i hate him." val supplied, tearful as he obligingly sat next to njord.

he didn't mean it -- he didn't really hate the sigil of njord's old home. he was just a child, bewildered by the ruthless complexity of the world -- and even though he had company in the form of njord sitting right next to him, val felt impossibly alone.