Noctisardor Bypass Lost in myself

As they headed into the dog days of summer, Druid felt like a wilting flower. The heat pressed on her, always, and the air grew hazy and difficult to breathe. Even after the sun went down each night, there was no real respite. She found some solace in the shade or in the shallow waters of the lake, though there was no true escape.

It was only the promise of finding water that convinced Druid to leave her shallow dugout beneath a shrub to follow Skaigona. Panting, she padded after her pale sister, eyes fixed on the reddish fur that marked her spine. Why did Skaigona and Witch look so much like Sequoia? And Worripa looked just like a miniature Mahler.

She had seen her reflection in the lough. Druid didn’t look like anyone else in her family. And she had funny eyes. She frowned thoughtfully when Skaigona’s question scattered her thoughts. The pup dug her black toes into the earth, nearly losing her balance as she ground to a halt.

They were near where the lake emptied into a river, or was it the other way around? Druid would’ve assessed the current if not for the figure straddling the bank. To Skaigona’s sotto voce query, she could only shake her head in silence, her mismatched eyes fixed on the pretty stranger.