The Heartwood "my child," the goddess said.

@Eldritch (some pp, let me know if i need to edit) :)

"Eldritch. Eldritch," she whispered again as she nudged the onyx femme with her muzze, trying to rouse her. "Come," she beckoned softly as she turned to lead the way out of the abandoned burrow they'd made their own for the past few days. "Come and see," the witch urged in eager tones before darting from their den. Aphelion squirmed from his perch where he draped about her neck like the finest of jewels, uncomfortable in the cold. 

There's was a strange relationship, snake and mambo, for the serpent should have been still hibernating in this weather by all rights.  Yet, Mati had found him slithering through the snow sluggishly to the east of the Wilds. Her warmth was likely all that kept him alive, inspiring a devoted bond between the two. Aerenys tried to angle the puffs of her breaths on his scales as she loped along, leading her fellow witch to the discovery she'd made that morn.

Soon enough the frozen carcass of the winterworn elk doe appeared on the horizon as a dark blemish against the snow-blanketed ground. Mati slowed as she circled around to the fallen beast's head, its features frozen in an almost peaceful expression of surrender. "A kinder death than Peryite might've given," the Priestess murmured, humming curiously beneath her breath as she stared upon the elk with a hint of fascination. Death did not disturb the night-child. "We will thank the gods by sharing her with Sithis, yeah," Aerenys decided in an excited exhalation, her mismatched orbs of sapphire and amethyst bright with exhilaration at the idea. 

"You should be the one to give her to the Void," the vodou queen's next words were somber, the dark Melonii straightening seriously at the thought. What better way to begin her partner's initiation? "I will help you," Mati offered, her tones implying that Eldritch was always free to decline if she did not feel ready for such a thing.