Broken Antler Fen redmist

When blood bubbled to the surface of the water, Reyes was immediately nervous. He did not like the look of it; there came a flash of memory from a dark and distant moment in his life, spoiling any good feeling he had upon the moment of Teya's success.

He paced along the water's edge. When she surfaced, otter between her teeth, he saw instead the imagery of another time:

A broad-shouldered man grinning ruefully from the shallows, teeth red. Rather than an otter's supine shape gripped tightly by the neck, it was the soggy body of an old man, face-down. The dripping of water from Teya's pelt became the tittering, fear-laden whimpers of a girl trying not to cry; then, the laughter of men closing in around her.

It was all so fast, so sharp in Reyes' mind that he almost shouted out - No! - as he had then, in defense of the girl. Reyes dropped to his haunches on the fen while Teya carried the prize from the water, its struggles only adding to the confusing scene unfolding in his mind. He stared blankly at the red blooming in the water.