Bearclaw Valley Este's been losin' sleep.

it was time to test the children once more.
his blood. their blood. our blood.
this time merrick did not call to indra; he descended into the rift where she was kept and allowed his single eye to adjust to the dim light.
she sat scarlet and straightbacked before a crude iteration of a surface, swept with specific items. 
the man did not speak. he sat in the darkness behind indra, looming close with a calmer simmering to him, one of curiosity and reverence for the odd spread before the captive girl.